Missing Moon
by Imalvinflang
Summary: An incredible development in the Force brings Ben Solo, on the run after a military coup, and Rey, badly hurt from an enemy attack, together on a remote planet following a Resistance/First Order clash. Could something between the two protagonists grow from the ashes of Crait?
1. An Inevitable Reunion

Chapter 1

An Inevitable Reunion

For the first time in recent memory Rey was finally alone.

Sitting cross-legged in the cockpit of the aging _Millennium Falcon_ , she stared out onto the crowded launchpad with a tiredness she could finally convey without heavy-handed concern from the other members of the Resistance. The green fabric of her most recent outfit matched the hue of the tall jungle trees surrounding her. She kneaded her new and improved staff with her hands, a uniform steel rod wrapped in leather bindings, freshly built on a green ocean planet two worlds ago when she had time to spare.

Or was it three? It was hard to keep all of the places the Resistance visited recruiting new members to their cause. First it was a forest planet speckled with hardy stone villages, next it was a city planet with dull steel towers scraping a dull gray sky. Outer Rim territories blended together one after the other. Even constant conversation and banter with Finn and Rose started to grow less and less common as time passed, as Finn and Rose often went off by themselves, leaving Rey alone with the others troops she didn't know as well. Every day more and more starships with even more crew members seemed to materialize from nowhere. There was still plenty of resisting despite the iron fist of the First Order military. Their enemy had become more powerful since the battle and escape from Crait, but they weren't all powerful. Not yet anyway.

A _plonk_ of a raindrop on the glass of the cockpit signaled the start of a storm. The green jungles of their present settlement looked drained of color under the rushing gray clouds and small lights flickered on in the surrounding wooden buildings as darkness moved in. Rey felt a small rush of joy at the sight of it all, but the water-starved desert dweller couldn't find the energy to open the doors and step outside to enjoy it. Hopefully the atrium or court Leia and the others were in right now was air conditioned, as this humidity could weight down anybody, even the most seasoned rainforest inhabitant. The cockpit she now sat in was luckily cool and dry, lacking the usual body heat of her Wookie co-pilot, Chewbacca. While his company was slightly missed, what Rey really craved was a cup of cool nightblossom tea, a delicacy among the scavengers of Jakku and the only thing about Niima Outpost that she truly longed for after her departure, after she had admitted to herself that no one was coming back for her on that dustbowl of a planet.

Her mind sleepily reflected on her last talk with Finn before he and the other members of the Resistance filed into the jungle palace. Leia had organized negotiations with a local king, who wanted to discuss the possibility of an alliance with the general's forces and her own. Hundreds of pairs of boots hammered down on the wooden bridge leading up to the massive carved stone palace. Large colorful bird-like organisms chirped and crowed in the trees, sending a wild wake-up call to the sleepy soldiers. Dusk was only a short way away, it seemed like, and each trooper was talking with another about the rumored feast this king was going to hold for his many guests. Finn and Rose hovered near the back, their hands clasped and the faces close as the chatted and giggled. Rose walked with a slight limp now, a consequence of her rescue of Finn back on Crait. Rey walked in the very back, not wanted all those eyes on her as they made their way up.

A moment of dread and apathy took ahold of her, a feeling so intense that she couldn't shake off, not this time. She needed to keep going, for Leia and her other friends. But did she really need to be there? Leia's quick wit and strategy should be enough for a negotiation for an Outer Rim king with everything to gain from an alliance with the Resistance.

Rey fell back even more and turned around, walking as quietly as she could. Just as she thought she had gotten away undetected, a hand landed squarely on her shoulder.

"Hey," Finn said carefully. "Where are you going? We're supposed to be inside with Leia and Poe and the others." His brown eyes locked onto hers, a serious look on his face that forced her to feel a twinge of guilt. That was the thing about Finn. He was so trusting and understanding that you have no choice but to be as honest as he was with you.

Rose was staring back at them in concern, but Finn waved to leave him behind.

"I… can't do this right now Finn, I'm… sorry." Each break in Rey's sentence lined up with a slow step away, towards the safety of peace and solitude of the _Falcon_.

"Is this like what was going on last week?" he asked. His tone was thankfully non-accusatory.

He must have interpreted her unwarranted ferocity during sparring, recent decrease in conversation with him and Rose, and constant underlaying anxiety a different way than everyone else was. She was so thankful for his understanding nature.

She hesitated. "Yes. I-I don't know what's gotten over me, I've just been feeling so low and lonely I guess." She rubbed at the back of her neck. "I'm sorry if this is totally inappropriate, I can go and join if you…"

"No, it's okay." Finn held out his hands in a calming gesture. Rose and Poe and the other pilots were already lost from view as they had already made their way up the path into the palace, but Finn stayed to make sure Rey didn't feel rushed. Rey felt a surge of relief flow over her. Or it was the sweat from the humid air running down her skin. She was never a fan of biomes such as this.

"Thank you. I just want things to go right—"

"It's totally fine. If you need to go and recharge your batteries, I understand." A joking smile crossed his face. "Y'know, I don't really blame you. I'm exhausted from having to remember every new face that pops up around here. We could all use a break from time to time."

Rey smiled and let out a small chuckle.

Finn continued, "But what we have is good for the Resistance, and bad for the First Order, and we're doing just fine right now, so don't worry about it." He patted her shoulder and shrugged.

"Thanks, Finn. I'll see you later" Rey returned his smile and began to jog toward the _Falcon_ with more and more urgency.

It had been half an hour since she has slumped down in the pilot's seat and allowed her foggy mind to relax and wander. The rain had certainly helped in creating the serene atmosphere she most definitely needed.

But still, even in the closest thing Rey could call her home and safe place, something felt off. Something tickled at the back of her mind. The half-bun she wore her hair in suddenly felt tight and uncomfortable. It began to get quiet, the air going still.

Her blood ran cold. The last thing she needed right now was a force bond session with the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. The sensation in her head felt like the first stage of the space-bending phenomenon she and he both underwent. Rey gripped the sides of her seats, gritting her teeth as she focused on ridding that feeling from her mind. _Go away. Go. Away._

They had not seen each other since her escape with the Resistance from Crait. His gaze permeated her thoughts even now. The pout of his lips, the raggedness of his hair. His tired eyes staring up at her, pleading, begging her to stay with him. It was a look Rey had erased with a push of a button, the ship's doors sliding closed over him. But why was something she had worked so hard to bury finally decided to resurface now, when she was vulnerable? How could she allow that traitor to occupy any more of her thoughts?

The quietness passed, and the normal hums of the ship's hardware began to normalize. Rey took a deep breath, releasing her tightened grip on her seat. She just wanted a chance to sit and collect herself without anyone around, was that too much to ask of the universe? Just one moment alone that wasn't passed in sleep.

She swiveled her head around and her eyes caught on the remaining Jedi texts she had smuggled from Ach-To, sitting on one of the back seats, thrown there in frustration. Every few days she broke open one of the ancient books and worked to decode the dead languages the secrets of the Jedi were buried under. Each try began with a manic hope that this would be the day, and each try ended with her tossing the books back on a shelf or on a chair, consumed with anger. She had the Force and she could do all of these amazing things but reading some old books was out of the question, for whatever reason.

Rey lifted one of the books through the air to her, where the rough carved wooden cover chafed against the skin of her hands. She blew air through her nose and opened it up, know full well that nothing new would be revealed to her. The twisting symbols seemed to dance in the dim light of the cockpit, their meaning so tantalizingly close. Each turn of the coarse pages uncovered more and more writings, and a heavy feeling in Rey's chest grew and grew until she couldn't take it anymore. She set the book down on the floor with a loud thump that echoed through the ship.

Rey buried her head in her hands and breathed in to clear her head. A loneliness more potent than before burned at her insides, as if she had just swallowed pieces of poisonous starship fuel. She had all of these new friends and allies, a new ship and co-pilot, a new _family_ , and still she felt empty. She was in possession of everything she had ever wanted. But one thing always kept itself out of reach. A sense of true belonging.

The ambient noises of the pattering rain and resting ship all at once disappeared, as if a vacuum had sucked them away. Rey's breathing felt louder in her ears and the air around her sat more still than it had before. Her eyes widened under her fingers, knowing full well that what she had dreaded finally decided to take place. She peeked out through her splayed fingers with resignation.

Ben Solo almost mirrored Rey's position in the seat next to her, his gloved hands covering his face, hunched over so that his elbows were on his knees. His black hair, unkempt and ragged, fanned over the face he hid from everyone. His black assembly was identical to the one he wore when they had last seen each other, but the addition of a dark red cape highlighted the broadness of his shoulders. She had forgotten how tall he was.

She swallowed down those last two thoughts in shame. Rey didn't even want him here in her safe haven, and his closeness was even more infuriating.

A few seconds passed, and neither one of them moved. Had he even noticed Rey was there? She kept her mouth shut and her body absolutely still in her seat. Maybe if she kept to herself and they didn't talk he could just disappear like he always did.

To her dismay he took his face out of his hands and looked weakly into her eyes a few moments later.

"Rey…" he murmured in his deep voice. His eyes widened, and his mouth took the shape of a surprised _o_. Rey couldn't be too sure, but she thought she heard hints of relief in his tone.

"Shut up." Rey clenched her jaw and she felt a twinge of pleasure through her burst of anger at the sight of his frown deepening. "This the last thing I wanted to do right now." She folded her hands in her lap, forcing herself to stare at the scars on her fingers. She had already seen enough of him and wanted him gone.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Anger gave way to curiosity as Rey glanced back at Ben. He had done the same action that she had, giving much more attention to his gloved hands than was really needed.

She let out a little snort. "What are you sorry for, your Highness?"

"Everything." He turned back to her. She only now noticed the redness of his eyes and the puffiness of his face. A blush crept up on her cheeks. She hoped he didn't see it across the lightyears they were communicating.

The two were silent for a number of minutes, one desperately trying to attract the other one's gaze while that other one bitterly resisted. Ben's shallow breaths echoed across space, loud in Rey's ears. He did not try to argue or reason with her but waited to let Rey figure out his words for herself.

"All you're going to say is 'I'm sorry?'" Rey growled.

He hesitated for a bit, still staring intently at her.

"What else can I do?"

"Abandon the First Order." Rey was on her feet and her voice increased in volume with each word. "Give up the Dark Side. Join to Resistance! Do everything you should have done before you came to Crait and forced Luke to sacrifice himself and almost destroyed my friends!"

"I can't do that."

"Why not?! You've had every chance to!"

"I don't want to live my life for other people anymore." For the first time in their session his tone turned icy and dangerous, his eyes shooting daggers. "You only wanted to use me for my power, just like my parents and Luke and Snoke." Now he was on his feet, his towering dark figure engulfing the smaller scavenger.

"I—that's not true!" Rey curled her hands into fists, her heart hammering.

"You know it is. So why don't you go ahead and admit it?" he shouted, pointing a finger at Rey's chest.

"I can't admit something that's not right!"

"Is that all I was to you? Some sort of weapon that can be turned at the touch of a hand?"

Rey gulped and sat roughly back into her seat. She felt hurt and betrayed. But these weren't her feelings; it must be what Ben was experiencing and ripples of it passed to her through the bond.

"No," she protested quietly, cringing at the slight quaver in her answer.

"Then what was I?" Desperation laced his every syllable.

Rey bit her lip and gathered up the courage to look Ben straight in the eye.

"I don't know! But what was I to you? Just some stupid garbage-picker that could be twisted and manipulated to your needs?"

"No, of course not—"

"Someone who could be told that they were nothing so they would just walk right into your arms, hoping you'd make them something more?"

"You know that's not what I meant back there."

"I couldn't take it any other way!"

His lips pursed. "I just wanted you to know you were not alone."

"And I thought I wasn't until you betrayed me!" shouted Rey. She now realized what she had said, and the resulting panic choked her like a big bite of bread. She turned away to hide her face.

"I was just so lost back then, and I had no one else to talk to but you. I started to trust you."

Tears pooled in her eyes and it took everything to hold them back. She would not allow herself to cry in front of him again.

"Everything is so empty now." she added. A single tear trailed down her cheek.

Ben's expression immediately softened. He sat back down and rubbed at his neck with one hand, looking down at the floor. "I feel that way, too."

His pale face looked redder than before, but Rey blamed that on a trick of the light.

"Maybe that's why the Force bonded us again after all this time," Rey said, slouching in the pilot's seat, looking out into the silent rain outside, "hoping to make us feel less empty." Her anger drained away despite her best efforts. A gray tiredness remained.

Ben bowed his head in agreement, but he didn't add anything else. Now they sat side by side, an awkward silence ballooning up in the space between them.

"Where are you right now?" asked Rey. She couldn't see his surroundings, just him. Part of her wanted to know, but mostly she just wanted to break up this nasty quiet.

"In a new throne room on _The Finalizer_. You're sitting next to me."

"Have you fixed this one up how you like it since we burned down the last one?" Yellow flames and red sparks flashed in Rey's vision. Their fight in Snoke's throne room caused more devastation than either of them planned on. The _Supremacy_ splitting in half didn't help matters either.

"A little bit," he answered. "They put up different colored hangings that I wanted."

"Let me guess, black?" Rey couldn't help but smirk slightly.

"You're absolutely right. How could you have known?" Was this sarcasm? From a man Rey regarded as the most serious and humorless person she had ever met?

"Maybe it's my new powerful Force deduction skills," she returned.

"You didn't end up needing me to teach you after all."

"I guess not."

"Where are you?" His dark brown eyes stared straight ahead, potentially trying to pick out Rey's location.

"We're on some sort of jungle planet in the _Falcon_. To be honest I don't even remember the name of where we are. It started raining a bit before you showed up. It's a shame you can't see it, though."

"I haven't seen rain in a long time. A part of ruling the First Order means you have to stick to the chair a lot of the time. Snoke had that part down to a tee."

Rey suppressed the smallest of smiles and another silence passed, this one thankfully much more comfortable than the last.

Their circumstances finally made themselves apparent to Rey, and fear clenched her chest.

"What are we doing?" asked Rey.

"What do you mean?" Ben replied, his voice husky with confusion.

"You're the Supreme Leader, and I'm an ally of the Resistance. We shouldn't be seeing each other, let alone make small talk like we're friends."

"Just because we're obligated to strike each other down sometime in the future doesn't mean we can't have one moment of peace," Ben countered. "I won't ask about Resistance plans if you don't ask me about what I'm planning. Is that fair?"

Rey pursed her lips. The tapping of the rain outside had slowed, and streaks of white sunlight flowed weakly through the dark storm clouds.

"I guess." She took a deep breath and ran her fingers along the grooves of her weapon.

Ben noticed this and asked, "New staff?"

"Yeah, it was about time my old one was retired, and the lightsaber we broke is still split in half. New cape?"

Ben ran the fabric of his new addition through his thumb and forefinger. "Yes. If you thought they could stuff me in that awful gold robe, you thought wrong."

A harsh bark of a laugh escape Rey's lips and her hand rushed to her face. Her cheeks burned with shame.

"You can laugh at me if you want. I'm funny, you know," Ben deadpanned. Traces of a smile flashed on his lips but were gone as soon as Rey noticed. She didn't even know if it truly happened at all.

Her unease had almost vanished completely, but the lack of unease went back around to making her slightly uncomfortable.

"This is just so strange." Rey turned and met Ben's eyes. "It's been so long, and I've been so angry at you all this time. How can we speak to each other so easily again?"

Ben shrugged and ran a hand through his wavy hair. An embarrassed look crossed his pale, angular face. "I might have an answer, but you may not take kindly to it."

Just before he could say another word, Ben blinked of existence, and the mechanical whirs of the _Falcon_ hit Rey's ears with the intensity of blasterfire. Sunlight fell on the glassy raindrops dotting the cockpit, causing the most beautiful shimmering effect, a nice end to a rather interesting encounter. Rey breathed in shakily. Everything about that conversation caused her confusion. Sure, they had argued, but they had moved on when they both admitted to feeling down. He even cracked some small jokes, a first from the dark, dangerous leader of an unstoppable military power.

Rey's heartrate quickened but the burning in her chest subsided. Her mind was buzzing but clean, like the dunes of her home planets after a smoothing wind. She felt…better. Better than she had felt in weeks.

Her attention turned to three figures who were strolling from the wooden bridge onto the launchpad. The tousled hair of one, the ponytail of another, and the leather jacket of the third revealed them to be Poe, Rose, and Finn, respectively. Rey grinned widely for the first time in what seemed like forever. Her friends were back and judging by the smiles and laughter on their faces the deal had gone well. She was excited for everyone, but her improved mood wasn't all because of the new alliance. Ben Solo's appearance helped her more than she cared to admit. But, in the end, would it be help or irrevocable hurt that they would put upon each other?

Rey pushed this question out of her mind for later consideration and raced out of the cockpit to open the hanger doors of the _Falcon_. Maybe she could invite her friends up for some Dejarik chess and talk about the events of the evening, not including secret Force connections with enemies of the Resistance.

 **Author's Note:** This is my first work on this site and I'm excited to see where it goes! I'll try to update consistently, but school is coming up and it could mess with my schedule. Thanks so much for checking this out!


	2. A Multi-faceted Plot

Chapter 2

A Multi-Faceted Plot

Ben thanked his lucky stars that the vast throne room he occupied was devoid of any life when Rey made her first appearance since Crait. If any officers came in to give reports or make requests, he would have had to either shoo them out and cause a scene or ignore Rey until the connection broke or everyone else left to attend to their business. And he wanted to speak with her sooner or later.

As soon as she had vanished he sat back in his chair and looked up into the ceiling, where many black silk tapestries were hung with care, miniature stones sewn into the fabrics bouncing flecks of light all around. The decorators had done a wonderful job with the new place. Better than the gaudy red of Snoke's regime. Though not nearly as spacious as the previous edition, the darker color scheme created the illusion of deep space, where even the light of the stars was dim and distant. It had a calming effect, and Ben spent his time in here practicing with his lightsaber and reviewing plans when he could.

This newest session with Rey passed by like in a dream. When they fought, time moved rapidly, his bottled-up emotions pouring out in front of her. She had hurt him, and he had hurt her, and they both rushed to get their points across. But when they both quieted down, the universe gifted him with moments inside moments. Little things stood out as she spoke, though she may have not realized it herself. The intelligent light behind her tawny eyes. The little smile he accidentally charmed out of her. Her hair had looked frizzier, due to the humidity of the jungles she told him she now stayed in. Their connection cut out before she could ask about his feelings concerning their reunion, and he was glad for it. What could he have said if she asked for clarification? That he had missed her dearly? It was a stupid move to say that in the first place.

Ben shifted his focus what Rey had mentioned about being somewhere in the Outer Rim. The Resistance was planning something there, he had known for a while. His eyes fell from the ceiling to the large black door at the other end of the room, a thin barrier between him and the rest of his soldiers. As Supreme Leader he should send out more officers to investigate potential threats in the jungles of the Outer Rim. The victory of the First Order was a clear priority, especially for the person running the whole thing. But tapping his finger on the padded armrest, he decided against it for now. He had already stalled on sending more troops to that region of space, just in case Rey couldn't stay out of harm's way. Bringing the war to her could still wait.

A chirp rang out from the doors, startling the Supreme Leader out of his stupor. He had forgotten that a daily report was due to him at this time. He reached out with his mind and sensed a nervous yet excitable mind waiting just outside, her nose almost touching the door.

"Enter," muttered Ben, and he waved the doors open with a flick of his wrist. He made sure to straighten his back look as he'd been expecting her all this time. He was now Kylo Ren, the highest-ranking member of the unstoppable First Order, ready to observe and command.

Colonel Pemna almost bounced in, her blonde bob waving back and forth. A holopad was tucked neatly under her arm, loaded with yet another quick summary of the First Order's progress around the galaxy. Trailing close behind her were his six newly appointed royal guards, armored from head to foot in plates the color and luster of obsidian, their faces covered by dark helmets. He had ordered them to escort many of the officers that sought counsel with him.

"Supreme Leader," she squeaked, inclining her head towards the large dark throne Kylo peered down from. She took out her holopad and started scrolling through various maps and lines of text with a satisfied smile. The guards behind her stood so still that stone statues seemed to have replaced them.

"We've managed to secure an enemy base located in the Andrem System, and I'm happy to report that we have seized a vast number of weapons and gear, as well as thirty prisoners that will be questioned."

Kylo nodded his head, allowing her to go on. Penma nodded curtly and continued.

"The destroyers _Tyderian_ and _Starshaker_ are moving to the remote planet of Nov Sensum in the Outer Rim. There are a number of cooperative natives there that give evidence to a lost Empire base. Sir, if we can secure this base in relative secret, we'll have easy access to the farthest reaches of the galaxy without any Resistance forces meeting us to fight."

An acute spasm of panic clenched Kylo's chest. So they were sending out ships to the outer territories without his initial permission. It could only mean trouble for the Resistance as the might of the First Order placed another stronghold in formerly unconquered space. This was supposed to be a good thing. For him personally it was the exact opposite.

"Do you need more time to plan? Maybe we could review this together in a conference."

"No need, my lord. The invasion has already been reviewed and approved by General Hux."

This came together a little too fast for his liking. However, he couldn't put a stop to the attack without drawing suspicion. And especially giving the order to one of the most dedicated officers in the entire force.

"Impressive," he praised the young colonel. "You and your team have done excellent work. Make sure the plans go underway. I have no further comments."

"Why thank you, Supreme Leader Ren, your words mean the galaxy to me." Her bright blue eyes closed as she bowed deeply towards him. "I'll instruct my men to start moving things along." She turned heel and strutted out of the throne room.

Kylo shut the door behind her and slumped down to his original position, tapping his armrests. Should he warn Rey of his army's advance? No matter how much they bantered and laughed they still occupied opposite sides of a galaxy-wide struggle for power. Hux and the others would know if the information leaked when the Resistance met their destroyers head on the basis of Rey's intel. His reputation would suffer and his hold on that rabid dog of a general would slip. The good will of one person, however important that person was to him, jeopardized everything he had worked and killed to gain here.

His royal guards still stood at attention in front of the throne. Buried in his panicked thoughts Kylo had forgotten they were even present. He appointed Joran, Ames, Eloisa, Edric, Sestro, and Sal himself for their impressive combat abilities and the cooperativeness with each other. In case of a true emergency, they'd finally be able to prove themselves. But right now, they looked like they could use some excitement. He needed to mull over some plans of action and fighting always did the trick. Why not help both parties?

Kylo stood up and slowly walked towards his guards. They hadn't seemed to expect that, for a couple shifted their shoulders or took a step back. Six hidden eyes met his own pair.

"I have a request to make of you."

The six soldiers solemnly stood at attention. Not a muscle moved now.

"I'd like to spar with you all. It clears my head. If one of you wishes to prove their loyalty to me or release any anger regarding me in a physical manner, now would be a great time." He knew his offer would not be refused. Any small whim of his held the importance of a concrete command in their ears.

For a few moments the six stood as still as still could be. Then one of the larger figures took a step closer, hands gravitating to the two weapons on his belt.

"It'd be a pleasure, sir," spoke a gruff voice under his helmet.

"Thank you, Joran" said Kylo, and he truly meant it. Unclipping his lightsaber from his belt, he ignited it with a steely determination. The angry red blade and cross guard rippled and hissed, finally free to wreak havoc. He let his maroon cape fall to the floor.

Joran unsheathed a twin pair of shortswords, flashing deadly silver in the dim light of the throne room. At the base of each side of the swords blazed a laser, ensuring a nasty burning slash to any enemy unfortunate enough to cross their path. The weapons' similarity to the ones the Praetorian guards had used on Kylo brought back unwelcome memories, causing his adrenaline to shoot up. It was like being back there again.

Kylo moved first, slashing down hard with his lightsaber. His partner caught the red blade between the crossed swords. He forces his arms out, throwing Kylo a few paces back.

"Not bad," he muttered, then came again, this time with a series of jabs and thrusts. Joran deflected each blow with calculation and grace. Kylo's offense turned to defense when the guard countered with thrusts and slashes of his own, stepping forward and gaining the upper hand. Kylo's blood began to boil, and the sensation of it energized his mind.

What to do about this invasion. A swipe to his head forced him to duck and struggle with his footing again. He could tell Rey when another bonding session occurred, but who knew when that could happen again? She was fiercely loyal to her friends and cause as well. She would report her findings to the first powerful person in her immediate vicinity, and soon enough their ships would materialize next to the destroyers for a battle.

He dodged right and swung ferociously at his partner's side, where a shortsword whizzed into existence to block the strike.

What did it matter, really? What did any of this matter?

He caught another sword in the cross guard of his lightsaber and whipped it away.

He had no personal motive, no skin in the game to end this war and claim victory for the First Order. All he wanted was true belonging, a place where he was appreciated not just for his power, but what he could offer as a normal person.

Kylo saw a small opening just as his opponent's right arm was flung away and thrust his saber so that its sizzling end was inches from the guard's masked face. The figure froze, defeated.

Bowing his head in respect, Kylo lowered his weapon. Joran sheathed his swords and nodded. He walked back to his companions and was unmoving and stoic as before.

"Two more, together," Kylo ordered. Eloisa and Sal approached him, the former holding an electric spear that crackled and sparked, the latter a morning star with glowing red spikes. A bit more of a challenge this time. Again, he moved first towards his targets, faster than before. They both dodged the attack, spear stabbing and morning star swinging in deadly arcs. They fought for a number of minutes, Kylo sucking in air as he blocked blow after blow. He hadn't gotten this strenuous a workout since his fight with Rey in. the throne room all those weeks ago.

Soon he held up one hand in surrender, saber lowered. The two guards nodded and retreated back. Though sweating profusely, he still craved one more battle. He was just starting to have fun.

"I'll take on you three," he said. The blood pounding in his ears drowned out the buzz of his lightsaber. Three pairs of heavy boots clopped on the floor as the remaining guards approached. A glowing energy shield carried by Edric, a fearsome sickle in the hands of Ames, and a pair of hatchets belonging to Sestro surrounded the Supreme Leader. Three at a time would be hard to keep track of, but Kylo had grown soft in his throne. He desperately needed the practice.

Every single second of this last skirmish was sure to leave more seared muscles in the coming days. The unusual weapon types came together for brutal combos. Sestro's hatchets slashed while Edric's shield blocked his attempts to attack back. Even his plasma blade couldn't slice through the simple-looking sickle that Ames was currently lunging at him with. Lightsaber met shield and a shower of orange sparks erupted between the weapons. Dodging and weaving was the only effective strategy Kylo could employ against this ever-changing wall of black, armed to the teeth.

A silver blur flared in Kylo's peripheral and he managed to duck a hatchet before the blow took off his head. His arm ached from blocking blows. If the plasma of his saber wasn't effectively weightless, his arm would have lost all feeling at this point.

Soon he spotted an opening in the Sestro's stance and he moved to thrust his blade towards his chest. As the red saber neared his heart, the guard ceased movement. The others stopped their advances, watching carefully under their masks.

Kylo turned his lightsaber off, the bloody red blade retreating once again into the metal hilt. and bowed deeply toward all of his guards. They mirrored his gesture, sliding their various instruments of destruction back into their belts.

"Thank you" Kylo panted his six guards, wiping sweat off his brow. He pulled his cape off the ground and threw it over his shoulders. "I needed that."

"Anytime, sir. We're always three feet away from your throne if you ever need us," Eloisa piped up from the back. Kylo could hear her sarcastic smile. She slipped her helmet off her face to reveal the tan-skinned, brown-haired girl he met weeks ago when he first settled into his new home on the _Finalizer_.

"Honestly, I could have done with something like that ages ago. I have to keep my strength up," said Sestro, stretching his arms above his head. He had removed his helmet too and beads of sweat ran down his young face into his mane of sun-yellow hair. He nodded to Sal, an older gentleman with neatly trimmed brown hair and a beard standing silently behind him.

Edric ran a hand over his shaved head and glanced at Kylo with concern in his dark eyes. "Everything all right, sir?"

Kylo had been twirling his lightsaber over and over in his hands, trying to burn nervous energy. "Oh, everything's fine," he assured him.

Joran and Ames approached Kylo, a seasoned veteran with graying hair and an older dark-skinned warrior. Both bowed their heads in respect and Kylo repeated the gesture.

"Will you be following the colonel down to that planet she had mentioned?" Joran asked. Kylo hesitated to answer and shrugged a couple moments later.

"I'm sure Pemna and her men have everything under control. I don't need to poke my nose into it for the time being. But if something happens, I'll accompany them." He was going to tell Rey and see how she reacted. He only needed to step in and go to her if she agreed to fight.

"If it were up to me," chimed in Ames, "I'd have that woman demoted. There's just something off about her." She shook her head in disgust. "A little too excited for her line of work, don't you think, sir?"

Kylo could see her point. Her eyes shone a little too bright when discussing raiding cities and taking prisoners. Even so he preferred her company over Hux's. Discussing battle strategies with a bantha would be more productive than arguing with the general.

"We could all do without a lot of them." Sal interjected with crossed arms, and Eloisa and Edric nodded their heads in agreement. "I've seen them around, the colonels and captains and such. They're planning something, something we can't just let fester into existence."

"Really?" Kylo stopped twirling his lightsaber and turned his attention over the guard. "What have you seen, what have you heard?"

"I thought you would have sensed something by now, sir, but I've noticed just this nasty air around the men around here. When the others and I scout around the ship for security reasons, I can feel glares on our backs. Like we're their enemies."

"I've seen that, too," Sestro put in. "A collective dislike of us, and unfortunately of you, Supreme Leader."

Kylo pursed his lips. He had been too blinded with loneliness and self-pity to consider his position with his inferior officers to be in any danger. Absolute power elevates ignorance absolutely. The deck attendants and technicians never met his eyes as he passed by but shrugged him off. Every one of his captains and colonels on board the _Finalizer_ obeyed every command he gave out, but always with a mean look or curl on their lips. But Kylo kept these details out of his mind, always assuming them a natural consequence of claiming the throne for himself after the severed torso of his old master laid at his feet.

"The colonel's choice to set up the groundwork for an entire operation by herself then ask for your say-so is rather odd as well." Edric strapped his shield to his back.

"Yeah, shouldn't those kinds of things be talked over at those meetings you always have to go to?" asked Eloisa. Her spear sparked as she spun it around in her hands, her eyes staring up into the ceiling.

"Yes," Kylo answered. All six of his guards turned their gaze to him.

His anxiety began to ramp up. He had been a fool to think nothing worth his trouble was happening. So lost in his thoughts of the scavenger from Jakku that he had failed to consider the bigger picture. The First Order was not only a threat to the well-being of the galaxy, but now a threat to himself and in turn Rey.

"I'm going to have a proper talk with my general," decided Kylo, his tone tight with a new anger. "I'm going to straighten this whole situation out."

"Sir, would you like us to accompany you?" Ames offered, and the rest of the group straightened up for a new assignment.

"That won't be necessary but thank you all." Kylo brushed past Joran and Sal on his way out to the big black door on the other side of the room. His boots clicked hollowly against the stone of the floor.

"Think you can handle yourself without us?" Sestro joked, earning a laugh from the three older gentlemen.

Kylo held up his hand toward the doors and they slowly opened with a series of clunks. "I think I can handle myself against that beanpole." He slipped out the entrance, hearing a collective chuckle echo behind him.

The Supreme Leader moved down the hall quickly, fists clenched at his sides and cape fluttering behind him. People around him, whether standing and talking or rushing along, moved out of his way as if avoiding a deadly animal. Kylo reached out with the Force and any shred of respect was nowhere to be found, only contempt. This only spurred him to walk faster and more aggressively. Perhaps Hux could offer a reasonable explanation for this recent change in mood and the new plan to invade an Outer Rim world without his full understanding.

He stepped into the elevator at the end of the hall and with down two levels. Hux's office was located near the middle of the corridor. Millicent, his prized ginger cat, was always wandering around the hall and sometimes people would stop dead in their tracks to pet the thing. The animal was very affectionate and caring towards its visitors, the polar opposite of its owner. He saw it now, strolling in the same direction as him and trailing its tail along the patterns of the wall.

The door to the office was firmly closed. From what Kylo could sense no one had occupied it for hours. Hux could be anywhere on this massive ship overseeing preparations or giving orders. Kylo was about to rush back to the elevator and begin his search when two voices rang out from around the corner.

"Sir, do you really think this will work? Pardon me for saying so, but you seem to be underestimating his abilities, you've _seen_ what he's done when he's angry." Kylo recognized the quaver of Captain Armeena, a known toady of the general.

"And I am fully aware of that, captain! He's strong in the Force, but he's still human. I've been thinking of ways of ridding ourselves of that lunatic for months." Hux's clipped bark curled Kylo's lip. Rage inflamed his every nerve, but he had to keep himself quiet and hidden. He put his back to the wall and hoped they didn't round the corner to find him there.

"He almost never comes out for battles anymore, he has no reason to fly in for us this time," Armeena worried aloud.

"Ren's been withholding troopers from that region of space since he has been on that throne. It's either due to pure incompetence or there's something out there he knows about and wants to hide."

"A Resistance plot?"

"Someone in the Resistance. The scavenger, more specifically."

He had known about the true nature Snoke's death this whole time. He had known the extent of Rey's involvement and his. The blood in his veins ran as frigid as ice water.

"They're allies. These Force users always are. We lure him to Nov Sensum and blow him out of the sky before he has a chance to reach that desert rat. And if her and her precious Resistance show up somehow to stop us, we'll take care of them and secure that Imperial base. You could say it's like killing three ships with one cannonblast."

Ben almost wretched at the smugness in his voice.

"Excellent planning, sir!" Armeena exclaimed. "Shall I alert the rest of my colleagues?"

"No need, I have passed the word down to everyone who needs know of this."

"I assume you'll take Ren's position once this is all over?"

"Precisely. Penma shall take my place as general and the First Order will enter a new era of power in the galaxy. We can't count on that madman to take us there. He was talking and shouting to no one when I was passing his chambers earlier. If our cause is to survive, someone like him has to be rid of, and quickly."

Kylo had heard enough. As quietly as he could he slipped away to the elevator and the end of the hall. Millicent sat politely by Hux's door, staring up at him with big yellow eyes. The supreme Leader never understood why his general owned a cat. A snake seemed more appropriate after the revelations of the past few minutes.

What could he possibly do? He had no one on his side here. Having the Force did have its advantages, but one Force-sensitive against an entire ship of troops out for his blood? The odds were definitely not in his favor. Fear slowly overtook his rage as he entered the elevator. What he needed to do now was get to the throne room. There it could look like he'd never left at all. His guard would attest to that. Could he trust them at all? What if their allegiance was to Hux now? His heart pounded in his chest and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

The grinding of the elevator's mechanisms ceased to make noise and the air grew unnaturally quiet. The Force had never connected him to Rey twice in the same day, let alone within an hour of the last session. But he did not mind in the least. He had to warn her.

"Ben?" Her hair was completely down and the wrappings on her arms were gone. It must be evening where she was. "Why are you here again, once was already enough for today—"

"Rey, please listen to me," he whispered. "The First Order is planning an invasion of a planet called Nov Sensum in the Outer Rim. They're going to find an old Imperial base and use that as an entry point into the territories there. You have to move yourself and the Resistance out of there for the time being. Part of it is a trap, a way to lure you all out and destroy you." He hit the stop button on the elevator so no one else could enter and interrupt him.

Her look of confusion changed to one of aggravation. "We can't just up and leave our allies to deal with this alone. I know you're only trying to help in your own terrible way, but the others and I have a duty to protect each other."

"They're also trying to kill me, too. The invasion is also a way to get rid of me cleanly."

Rey bit her lip and looked into his eyes. "Ben, I can't help you. I can't believe I'm saying this to you, but I'm sorry."

"I can escape in the ship attached to my throne room. If I can give you my coordinates—"

"No!" Rey shouted. She closed her eyes and held her face in her hands. "I can't take you in, my friends want you dead."

"I can trade information! I can do whatever they want."

"I can't help you. But you'll be okay on your own. Run away. You'll figure it out from there. You're strong." Her eyes turned kind for a fraction of a second at those words.

The connection ended. Once again Kylo was alone in the brightly lit elevator, more alone than he ever had been.

 **Author's Note:** I've had a LOT of free time so this chapter is out a lot earlier than I thought it would be. School is fast approaching, but I will try to get more out when I can. Thank you all for the favorites and follows, I really appreciate your support!


	3. A Near-Fatal Blow

Chapter 3

A Near-Fatal Blow

Rey had been making some small repairs to the life support systems when he had appeared out of the blue. Some of the wires were fraught and things had to be fixed if they wanted to keep breathing in the vacuum of space. Her hair was down, and her arm wrappings were thrown on a seat in the lounge. The pale blue moon of Raspitar (she finally learned the name of their gracious host world) sat low in the dark sky above them. Sleep was drawing closer, and she couldn't be happier about it. Chewie was thankfully at the other end of the ship, checking on the weapons and rations they had in the cargo bay.

Then the Supreme Leader materializes next to her and tells her of the danger the Resistance in is if the First Order takes Nov Sensum, of how his generals are plotting to kill him. It'd be enough information to leave anyone speechless. She couldn't come up with a good reason why Ben would tell her of his army's plan and ask for her help. Enemies didn't share invasion plans, let alone offer refuge from a coup. Confusion turned to anger, then that turned to fear. What was even happening between them anymore?

Ben had vanished as soon as he had appeared. His eyes flashed in her vision every time she blinked, wrought with distress and desperation. She hadn't seen that look since the throne room, when he begged her to leave everything she knew behind to join him and create a new order for the galaxy. Parts of her wished she could help him in some minor way that didn't get either of them killed, but the rest of her knew her place right now was in the Resistance. She had to report this to Leia and the others before the First Order arrived on their doorstep, blasters blazing.

Rey pulled her hair up into a casual bun and jogged to the other end of the ship to meet Chewie. His large hairy frame was hunched over a large wooden box stocked with vacuum-packed rations and dissolvable powders. He gave her a friendly roar but the look in his eyes changed when he caught a glimpse of her troubled expression.

"I need to find Leia. Do you know where she is?"

The Wookie roared again, nodded, and pressed to button to open the doors. They both walked swiftly onto the launchpad. Many of the ships had their lights on, giving their crowded landing space a look like Coruscant or the other city planets.

They headed towards the massive palace, Rey's boots and Chewie's paws scraping the wooden bridge. Each window carved into the stone walls glowed with a warm yellow light. A towering arch stood above a pair of intricately carved doors. Small leafy trees grew from cracks in the rock or in planters by the entrance, decorated with lights like miniature suns. Of all the places the Resistance had visited, this one stood out as the prettiest by far.

The doors opened with a startling creak as two Dorjaak servants let the scavenger and Wookie inside. Their yellow feline eyes followed the pair while their long tails twitched curiously.

Chewie led her through the massive entrance hall, past the hissing fountains and large red flowers which blossomed on vines along the walls. Rey almost wished she had gone with Finn and Rose to the negotiations if she could have seen all this earlier. More jungle natives in leather armor were stationed at various doorways, never taking their eyes off their guests. They reminded Rey too much of wealthy traders stopping off at Jakku, staring down the small, dirty scavenger girl who struggled to move her pile of junk across the sand. But what did they know about her? She was delivering important information to the General of the Resistance, more than they had accomplished.

At the last doorway on the right Chewie stopped and turned to Rey, letting out a slow growl.

"I hope we can pull something together, too," replied Rey, swallowing her nervousness. "If not we're all screwed, to be honest."

Chewie opened the heavy doors for her and Rey stepped inside, her heart hammering.

General Organa had both hands on a holographic table displaying a map of the Outer Rim. Rey assumed the Dorjaak across from her was the king of this whole place, judging from his ruby robes and the gold on his neck that seemed to weigh as much as he did. The small room was dark, the only sources of light being the hologram and a few torches lining the walls. The two leaders were deep in conversation, not even noticing Rey was there until she gathered enough courage to pipe up, "General Organa, I need to speak with you right away."

The older woman turned her head, her brown eyes focused on Rey with a kind attention. Her expression was steely.

"You have information for me, I presume?" she asked.

"Yes," Rey answered. "The First Order is planning an invasion of Nov Sensum to claim an old Imperial base. There they have easy access to the rest of the galaxy. I didn't get an exact time, but they have to be launching their destroyers soon, I know it."

Leia's mouth hung slightly open in surprise. She held the tips of her fingers together in a gesture of thought.

"How did you find out about this?"

"I… was in the _Falcon_ when I accidently picked up an enemy transmission. I only got snatches of speech." What else could she tell her? That her son had traveled lightyears through the Force to betray war plans to his enemy?

The general's eyes narrowed, and Rey's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't have known she was lying, could she? What would happen if she knew the truth? Thankfully, Leia didn't call her out or question her about it.

"Alright. Thank you for sharing this with me, Rey, it means so much to the Resistance and to me." Leia turned back to the Dorjaak king. "Canaan, would we be able to call upon your services sooner than we discussed?"

The king's tail twitched in annoyance, but he replied in broken Galactic Basic, "Your needs are our commands, your majesty. How soon would your ships need to move out?"

"We will leave first thing in the morning." Leia took a couple of strides toward Rey and pushed her slowly towards the door. "I'll be back in a minute, Canaan."

Rey knew her time here was up as Chewie followed them as well. They stepped out into the hall as Leia gave them an affirming wink.

"I'll alert everyone once I am finished making plans here. Find Finn and let him know what's happening. We'll have a formal plan of attack by sunrise."

"Yes, ma'am," Rey nodded her understanding and Chew let out a loud roar.

"We can't let them take the Outer Rim. If they do we're lost."

"Yes, ma'am, we won't let anything happen." Rey turned from the general and ran down the hall to the outside, followed closely by her Wookie co-pilot.

They were both gasping for breath when their feet hit steel. More lights were shining than before and she could catch snatches of chatter from some of the smaller, less dense vehicles. Leia's word seemed to have spread in the time it took the pair to arrive at the _Falcon_.

Finn and Rose were staying in the new cargo ship they had obtained from a generous city planet a while ago. To her relief they were standing outside the massive ship, talking urgently with one another. They seemed to be waiting for her.

"Did you get Leia's order?" she asked as she and Chewie approached them.

"We did." Rose held Rey's hand and squeezed it affectionately. "Where did you hear about this? Everyone was expecting a First Order attack sooner or later, but apparently they decided this was a great time."

"I accidently found an enemy transmission on the _Falcon_ ," she repeated to them. Finn nodded, and Rose gave her a small smile. They bought her lie more than Leia did.

"You've probably saved everyone here, Rey," Finn said seriously, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, guys. I promise I'll make sure I do more than just stumble on lucky info, though." She laughed at the irony of her situation. Her friends owed their thanks not to her, but the Supreme Leader of the First Order. What would he say if he were here? Maybe he'd make a sarcastic comment about his role in the continuing existence of his enemy.

"You alright? You looked kind of dazed," Finn told her. Chewie bleated his concurrence.

Her attention snapped back to her friends and she shook her head. "I'm fine," she said, her tone a little bit more defensive than she had meant.

"You'll be good where you are? You can always stay with us if you want before we fly out tomorrow." Rose and Finn held hands and waited for her reply. Rey glanced at their intertwined fingers and an acidic bubble floated up inside her. Jealousy, she realized sadly.

"No, it's alright. Chewie and I can take care of ourselves in there. I'll see you in the morning." Rey rushed off with Chewie toward the _Falcon_ where she could sleep and formulate plans of attack during the long battle ahead. She loved her friends, there was no question about that. But since the two of them got together, she felt a wall growing between them. She had no intention of being the third wheel tonight. At least during their chess game Poe kept the conversation going. She hadn't told anyone about her unusual standing with Kylo Ren, which had its pros and cons. No one would suspect her of treason, but the isolation from fellow Resistance members proved to be more than she could deal with alone.

Chewie opened the doors to their beloved ship and they slunk inside, tired and apprehensive about what tomorrow would bring. Rey pulled her hair out of her bun and made her way to the bunks by the chess table. Pulling a hunk of bread off a forgotten plate, she plopped down on the covers and stared at the underside of the top bed. The prospect of another huge battle resembling the one on Crait turned her stomach. Hopefully everything would work out fine and they could drive the First Order back. They had fantastic pilots and captains to steer them in the right direction.

If her side won, what would even happen to her and her friends after? She took a bite of bread and chewed thoughtfully. She never considered what kind of things she could do with her time if or when the war ended. She could perhaps be a mechanic on a city planet and make a fine credit or two. But she would be alone again if her friends decided to stay with Leia or move to other places. The bread caught in her throat as the thought passed by.

She levitated the remaining hunk of food back to its plate and she pulled the blankets over her. The hum of the ship started to lull her to sleep. She pushed all of her worries deep down and fell into an uneasy slumber.

…

The next morning zoomed by as if time itself rushed to keep up with the pace of the running pilots and marching officers. Rey and Finn and Chewie offered help to anyone within shouting distance, loading up cargo and weapons and making last minute checks to the fighters. If Rey had a credit for every box she Force-lifted, she would have had enough money to leave Jakku years ago. Leia walked quickly from ship to ship, talking with each captain and verifying last minute commands.

"Rey," she called over the roar of dozens of engines. She was discussing plans with the captain of the medical frigate, who turned around and walked back up the ramp to his ship. The young scavenger ran over as quickly as she could, expecting orders.

"You're taking the _Falcon_ , I suppose? You and Chewie better be careful in there, that piece of junk still worries me." The older woman chuckled.

"Yes, ma'am. Chewie and I will do our best to protect everyone we can."

"And be careful around my son, Rey. He seems to mean well, but good intentions never excuse bad consequences." She turned to walk to their command ship, a large frigate holding every high-ranking officer and their plans of attack.

Rey's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"You knew that he told me?"

Leia smiled and tapped her temple with her forefinger. "You seem to keep forgetting I'm a Skywalker, too."

Rey didn't respond.

"I just want you to be careful. That boy may have saved my life, but if there's a wrong way to go about things, he'll certainly take it. And he is the leader of an evil organization bent on galactic dominance, keep that in mind."

Rey stood as still as stone, guilty and relieved simultaneously at the general's response. At least she wouldn't be banished from the resistance because of her fraternization with Ben. And had he really saved Leia? But how?

"May the Force be with you, my dear," Leia smiled and continued her journey, her long navy robes trailing behind her.

"And with you," Rey murmured, still in awe. She started to run back to the _Falcon_ , where things could make more sense. Hindsight was indeed twenty-twenty. She should have guessed Luke Skywalker's sister would find out sooner of later. She prayed that the general would put off talking to Finn or Rose about it. Their reactions were less than ideal.

Rey climbed on board just as Chewie pressed to button to seal the doors. Both of them scrambled to the cockpit. An amazing site met them: dozens of ships lifted slowly up into the air, a solid gray mass stocked with laser cannons and loyal men and women to operate them. A few smaller craft, painted with green and brown stripes, flew in the join up. Rey assumed King Canaan's forces had arrived.

The _Falcon_ took to the skies, rapidly ascending with the rest of the Resistance fleet. Soon the individual trees of Raspitar disappeared into one green mass. They had reached the vacuum of space.

"Let's do this," Rey said, mostly to hype herself up. Chewie roared in agreement and they entered the coordinates to take the ship to lightspeed. The stars began to bend and a sudden lurch signaled the start of their journey to Nov Sensum.

A few short minutes of tense silence later the _Falcon_ slammed out of light speed and a green and blue marble of a planet appeared outside the cockpit window. Resistance shipped already floated around them, ready for an attack. The planet they were all fighting for reminded Rey very much of Takodana when she and her friends visited Maz in her castle. Before the big battle and before Kylo Ren took her away, starting a chain reaction that put her where she was today.

Chewie bleated nervously, and Rey snapped out of her flashback. Out of the corner of her eye more ships materialized out of hyperspace, but they weren't friendly at all. Three First Order destroyers, most likely with hordes of TIE fighters at the ready, hovered ominously mere kilometers away. The two warring factions had brought the fight to each other, and it was time for both sides to follow through.

"You fly, and I'll shoot." Rey leaped up from her seat and made her way down to the laser turret, her boots clanking against the metal grates. Chewie roared behind her and the ship accelerated toward the destroyers.

Hell had already broken loose by the time Rey sat herself down in the turret and adjusted the headset. Green cannon fire zipped past dodging X-wings while the larger ships in their fleet returned fire, shields at full capacity. Screams of TIE fighters filled Rey's ears and Chewie swerved the shipped up and over the oncoming wave of dark winged shapes.

A couple of fighters drifted two close for Rey's liking and she carefully took aim. Laserfire blazed around the glass. Red blasts erupted from her guns and landed squarely in the center of each ship, sending them tumbling down to the planet below.

"We have to protect the larger ships!" Rey shouted into the headset to her co-pilot. Her hands were shaking from a burst of adrenaline. In response the Falcon flipped over, the stars and lasers spiraling around Rey, and rushed away from the X-wings and jungle fighters. The hulking gray frame of Leia's vessel made itself visible. First Order fighters swarmed all over its exterior like angry insects going in for the sting. Rey put her fingers on the trigger, blood pumping. Poe had told her about how General Leia almost perished in a battle with the _Supremacy_. All of the Resistance commanders had been killed. She couldn't let that happen again.

TIEs swerved around to meet the _Falcon_ , but Chewie and Rey were more than prepared. The aging vessel maneuvered around each blast while Rey picked off their foes one by one. Rey ducked as the main body of a TIE fell toward her and almost scraped against the glass of her turrent, though ducking in this situation was not very helpful. Sweat ran down her forehead.

"Just like Crait, huh?" Rey shouted to Chewie. The Wookie growled, and Rey grinned. They had managed to blast some ships out of the fight, but the battle was not yet won.

"Rey, Chewie? Are you there?" Poe's voice asked from the cockpit. "We need you guys by the destroyers, these bastards just won't stop coming!"

The _Falcon_ swooped around, shifting Rey's view of the planet below, and sped toward the massive First Order command ships. Rey's eyes picked out the white X-wings from the black TIEs, red lasers meeting green in the darkness of space. The resistance ships moved out of the way as Chewie and Rey plowed through the mess, firing at any and all enemy craft the scavenger could seek out and shoot. Explosions blossomed everywhere. Rey was reminded of the decorative flowers from the palace on Raspitar.

The destroyers crawled nearer and nearer. Endless streams of ships poured out of launch bays, dealing blow after blow on fighters and command ships alike. An X-wing burst into flames and fell to Nov Sensum before Rey's eyes. She gritted her teeth and abandoned all caution. Wherever Chewie steered them, she fired straight ahead with a newborn ferocity.

A flash of orange caught her attention and she recognized Poe's X-wing. He was weaving in and out of the chaos, a TIE fighter on his tail and slowly gaining. Rey tried taking aim at his assailant but before she could shoot the burning wreckage of a First Order shuttle slammed into the TIE with tremendous force. Poe managed to zip away.

"That was pretty lucky!" Poe crowed into his mic, and Rey breathed out in relief. She was glad she got to know him during their weeks of recruitment. Listening with the cocky pilot often raised her spirits, and now was no exception.

The _Falcon_ dipped and flew out of the cloud of ships toward the destroyers. A small number of X-wings followed them. Broken hulls of TIEs drifted off behind them.

"We need to take out their surface cannons, we need to protect the bigger craft." Poe's orders crackled into Rey's ear as she prepared her gun for another round of destruction. She'd spent plenty of time hiking around the fallen ships in the Graveyard back on Jakku, and the outer workings of these killing machines were all too familiar to her.

Just as their squadron reached the massive destroyers, a small dark shuttle sped past the _Falcon_ ,headed in the opposite direction. Rey turned back around in her seat only to be greeted with a new swarm of enemy fighters, guns blazing. She was about to yell to Chewie but, to her disbelief, the fighters passed them by, the force of their speed rattling the entire ship. There must have been a dozen of them in pursuit of the shuttle.

Just then Rey's ears popped, and a word formed on the very tip of her tongue: _Ben_. She now knew who was in that shuttle. Hopefully the Supreme Leader would escape safely and jump to another system to find refuge. Rey pursed her lips. There was nothing she could do to help him now. The Force would take care of the rest.

In her second of distraction, a TIE fighter screamed towards them and unleashed a barrage of green lasers. They shot through the hull of the ship above her, rocking her in her seat. The noise was deafening. Hissing steam and alarms blared above her. Rey looked out of her turret in horror. The surface of Nov Sesum grew larger and larger as the _Falcon_ fell through space. Rey let out a panicked yell and tried to climb the ladder up to the main level, which was filled with stiff black smoke. She popped her head out.

"Chewie! Are you alright?" she shouted in between coughs.

She heard the distant cry of her co-pilot and she climbed up to run to the cockpit. Luckily the craft was affixed with two escape pods and they could abandon ship if worst came to worst.

Her stomach lurched as she slowly made her way to the cockpit. Lights flashed and sparked flew through the darkness. Buttons blinked on and off as the planet's surface came closer and closer. It was in these lights that Chewie became visible, his hulking frame moving rapidly towards the nearest escape pod.

"Go, get in, don't wait for me!" she yelled to her friend. The Wookie bleated sadly as the door to the pod opened with a painful squeal.

This was Han's ship, and his best friend had to abandon it to keep him and Rey alive. Rey felt a trickle of sadness as she moved forward to join him in the cramped space. Though she had only known the smuggler for a short while, her heart went out to his old ride as she took one last good look around.

"We'll be okay, Chewie, they have dozens of ships we can borrow—"

An explosion rumbled to life from the wall next to her, knocking off her feet and into the steel beams lining the next wall. A small crack in her arm told Rey she had broken the bone there, and her head collided with the hard metal, her vision flashing white. She crumpled to the floor, unable to move a single muscle. Red-hot pain flowed from her left arm, though she couldn't have screamed about it if she wanted to.

The last thing she heard before falling into a painful unconsciousness was Chewie's roars as the doors to the escape pod closed prematurely, sealing him off from her. A loud blast from in front of her signaled Chewie's escape. The ship continued to rumble and quake as they descended to the green and blue surface of Nov Sensum, dropping into the atmosphere faster and faster each moment. Rey lay still, the _Falcon_ burning around her.

. . .

Rey woke with a start, gasping for breath. Strangely, the air she breathed in was not filled with smoke as she last remembered but was clear and cool. The fires and sparks of the falling _Falcon_ were gone, replaced with a dark glossy interior of a newer ship. She was laying down on some kind of bed or table, judging back the shorter distance between her face and the bright cold lights shining down from the ceiling. The smell of singed clothing emanated from her and her nose wrinkled. Letting out a moan she tried to sit up and was met with a wall of agony. Her left arm oozed pain and her back felt bruised beyond imagining. She laid back down with an audible thump and realized a bunched-up cloak or blanket of some sort had been under head as a pillow. Something hugged her broken arm and she turned her head to see a makeshift cast there.

She noticed a window next to her head and she looked blearily outside. Nov Sensum drifted by dreamily below her. The absence of ships and their laserfire led her to believe the battle between the First Order and the Resistance was out of reach.

"Rey?" A few heavy footsteps echoed throughout the cabin and a dreadfully familiar face appeared in Rey's line of vision. Black hair tumbled around a long, scarred face wearing an expression of worry.

"How…?" she croaked. Her lips were terribly dry. "Where am I?"

"I'll try to explain later. Even I don't really know what's happening, but you're on one of my escape craft for now. You're safe."

"But how did I…" Rey again struggled to sit up, but she cried out in pain and slumped back down. Adrenaline flooded her veins but there was no use for it while she was incapacitated.

Ben held out his hand to discourage her. "You need to rest. I'll try to find us a safe place to land." There was real concern in his voice, but that didn't relax Rey in the slightest.

Rey lay there fuming while Ben disappeared from her vision to pilot the ship. She wanted to run up and grab him by the collar and demand an explanation for all this. But her body seemed to have taken his words to heart. Sleep was taking over fast. She closed her eyes despite her anger and confusion and fell into a deep sleep.


	4. A Safer Place

Chapter 4

A Safer Place

Ben Solo, in the guise of Kylo Ren, knew something was wrong when he felt the _Finalizer_ lurch forward. Sealed off from the rest of the ship, he had been sitting quietly on his throne in the company of his royal guards, looking over reports on a holopad borrowed from a lieutenant he passed in the hallway. The officer's angry expression still stuck with him. Was he part of the coup as well? Maybe not, but he probably wanted Kylo Ren gone like so many of his staff. Tension coursed through the destroyer like a poisonous gas, and Ben did not want to be around when a spark finally set the whole thing off.

Sleep had not been his friend the night before. Nightmares plagued him as they always did, and most of the time passed in tosses and turns. At first, he blamed the lurch on his tired mind, but looked up when his gut told him otherwise. This was a jump to lightspeed.

His squad of guards shifted uneasily. They had noticed the anomaly as well.

"We weren't scheduled to move out yet, were we?" Edric asked, his voice muffled under his black mask. Usually Snoke would have punished the guard for talking out of turn, but Ben never minded additional conversation in this lonely place.

"No, we weren't." Ben stood up and walked a few paces toward the door but turned back to look at his guard.

"They were only supposed to send two destroyers to the Outer Rim, yeah? So why are we going?" Eloisa ran her hand up her spear.

"Maybe for reinforcements?" suggested Sestro.

"Possibly," answered Joran, his voice rough with confusion. "But they would have known how many ships were necessary in the first place."

"You're absolutely right," said Ben. His right hand drifted to the lightsaber clipped to his belt. Something was most definitely wrong here.

The room moved forward once again. They were now out of lightspeed and over Nov Sensum with the rest of the invasion force. If what Hux and Armeena was true, Ben was to fight with the rest of the troops, then perish as he was blown up by his own men.

The doors to the throne room chirped. The Supreme Leader froze, then relaxed and opened the doors with a wave. He would think of a way out of this, all he needed was a little time.

Penma and two stormtroopers walked briskly inside. The colonel had her hands behind her back in a gesture of upmost confidence and wore a smile so acidic that it took Ben everything not to cringe. Her intent was indeed malicious, even an amateur in the ways of the Force could sense that much.

"Supreme Leader Ren, we are in need of your excellent piloting skills once again," she simpered. "There are many more Resistance ships than we initially calculated. Your abilities can easily turn the tide."

Boarding his TIE fighter and flying out into battle guaranteed a premature death. He could perhaps get away in the chaos of the Resistance encounter. His escape shuttle was just on the other end of the ship, untraceable to insure the Supreme Leader's safety. If he could get there without getting blasted he was home free, wherever home ended up being.

"I'm sure our troops are capable of handling the situation, colonel. I still need to go over these reports." Ben walked as calmly as he could back to his dark throne where he took a seat and resumed work on the holopad.

This answer did not seem to satisfy Penma's suggestion. Her smile curled into a grimace as her stormtrooper escorts stiffened. "Supreme Leader, we cannot have you sitting in here all by yourself. We need you on the front lines assisting your soldiers."

"I don't have to if I do not wish to." And he didn't. There was no way he was going into battle if he had the power to stop himself.

The small woman let out a high-pitched sigh, her expression going sour. She shook her head slowly, her blond bob rippling around her face.

"I wish it didn't have to come to this," Penma lamented, pulling out a small blaster out of the holster on her belt and aiming it at Ben's chest. The stormtroopers raised their blasters as well. Armor clacked behind him. To his horror the royal guards moved in front of him and all of them drew their various weapons. Two guards stood behind each trooper and the rest attended to the colonel. It was nine to one.

Ben clenched his teeth and held up his hands in surrender. He had considered his guards the closest things he had to friends. Their betrayal rocked him more than he wanted it to. Now there was absolutely no one he could trust besides Rey, and even she was unwilling to help him.

"You all are making a huge mistake," he growled, anger flaring up.

"The only mistake we've made was putting you in charge," Penma sneered. "Bring him to the bridge. Hux will want to take care of this lunatic himself."

Ames and Sal forced Ben's hands behind his back and the tip of Ame's sickle pressed into his lower spine. His lightsaber was unclipped from his belt and given to Sal. All ten of them then trudged out of the throne room down the long, brightly lit corridor.

They were halfway to the elevator at the other end when Eloisa stopped in her tracks, forcing the rest of them to cease. Ben looked up, startled by this new development. Something in the air had changed. Penma almost walked right into the guard but stopped herself at the last second with a brutal look on her face.

"What is the meaning of this? We're only wasting time if we keep standing—"

She never got a chance to finish her sentence. Eloise pulled back her fist and launched it squarely into the Penma's livid face. The colonel crumpled to the ground like a droid powering down. Ben managed to look around just as Edric whacked one stormtrooper upside to head with his shield. Ames took the other down with the butt of her sickle. Sal placed the lightsaber back into Ben's hands as he joined up with the rest of his peers, all standing expectantly in front of the Supreme Leader.

"I never liked her," Ames sighed, tilting her head toward the unconscious Penma.

"We need to hurry, sir. They'll be sure to send more troopers after us when we don't arrive," Sestro urged.

Ben was stunned, his mouth gaping slightly. "I thought you all wanted me dead."

"If that was the case we would have taken you out already," said Edric and the others nodded in agreement.

"We're only loyal to you, sir, no matter how much trouble you might get into," Joran explained. "Harm won't reach you as long as we're here."

"Thank you. I owe you all one." Ben reattached his lightsaber to his belt. "I need to get to my escape craft in the private hanger on the twelfth floor. Will you take me there?"

"Of course," Sal answer and he, with the rest of his colleagues, unsheathed their weapons. Ben nodded in gratitude and the group marched to the elevator.

The elite black shuttle Ben was to fly sat at the ready about a hundred feet from where the large elevator doors opened. The seven stepped out cautiously, but no sign of intruders could be detected. The seven moved quickly across the shiny black floors of the small hanger. Ben's red cloak slithered behind him. Freedom was so close he could taste it.

"Here they come!" yelled Edric, his shield already out and humming with energy.

Tens of stormtroopers rounded the corners of the hanger. Blasterfire flew through the air like a horizontal rainfall. Kylo drew his lightsaber just in time to block two lasers from hitting him in the stomach. The scar Chewbacca had given him on Starkiller still burned sometimes and he didn't want another wound in the same place. The escapees picked up their pace with Edric staying in the back to absorb stray blasts from the assault of troopers.

"I need help!" the guard shouted back to the rest of the group. "All of the others, go!"

Sestro and Sal ran back towards their comrade, blocking shots and slashing at the enemy and forcing some of them back.

Ben, Joran, Ames, and Eloisa reached the shuttle. The doors hissed open as Ben hit a switch on the side of the ship, revealing a clean dark interior. Before he could move inside, a bolt of red light flashed in his peripheral. Eloisa's head was in the line of fire.

"Watch out!" he shouted and held up his hand. The blast stopped in midair, buzzing and shifting just inches from the guard's face. She jumped back, and Ben could release the blast safely into the armored ship, sparks showering down.

"Thank you, sir!" panted Eloisa, surprise in her voice.

"I wasn't just going to let you die, was I?" he asked. He couldn't see, but he felt a smile form under her mask. He climbed into the shuttle and switched off his lightsaber.

"Where are you going to go?" Joran asked over the din of the stormtroopers.

"I need to find someone, and I'll see where I can go from there."

"It's that scavenger, isn't it?" Ames asked. It may have been a trick of the light, but he thought a smirk crossed her face.

"Yes," Ben replied. An embarrassing heat rose in his face. Rey was somewhere in that tangle of fighters outside, he knew it, and he had to find her before she could get herself hurt.

"Before you go, take this." Joran pulled something small and blue out of his uniform and handed it to Ben. It was a tracking beacon. "We will see each other again. When you need our help, we'll find you with this."

"But…"

"We'll find a way out of here once you leave. Don't worry about that," Eloisa assured him. "We're your friends. That's why we're doing this for you."

Enormous gratitude welled up in Ben's chest and he nodded to his guards in appreciation. He then ran towards the front of the ship while Joran closed the door behind him. Leaping into the pilot's seat he started the engine, his heart soaring at the rumble of the engines. Slowly the ship hovered forward and out of the hanger, the wings unfolding to their full length. He couldn't get a look back at his guards. He could only hope that they would survive Hux's wrath and escape somehow as he just did.

TIE fighters swooped after him the moment he left the hanger. Green lasers flew around him, and he turned the shields to maximum capacity. However, he spotted a group of Resistance and First Order ships clashing and he decided to fly through it. Leaning hard on the controls, he baited his pursuers and pulled them into a death trap. One by one each fighter exploded behind him, destroyed by the X-wings that shot at any enemy within range.

Finally, the shuttle cleared the battle and raced off. Ben was outside the clutches of Hux and the First Order for now. Now there was nothing stopping him from plugging in some coordinates into the hyperdrive and running away from this huge mess. Rey would meet him in that somewhere if he got the chance to speak with her again.

After establishing an orbit around Nov Sensum, everything became quiet, the noises of the ship hushing. His scar ached. A rush of both relief and nervousness ran through Ben's mind, as this change meant only one thing. Rey was here somewhere.

When he turned around in his seat to greet her, a horrible sight met his eyes. Rey lay on the floor, dirty and dusty, her clothes singed. She was totally unconscious from what he could tell. Her light brown hair was spread around her face, not up in her usual bun or buns. She needed his help, and fast.

But how could he help? They had touched hands before, even though lightyears separated them. There was a chance that some first aid would translate over through the bond and keep Rey in a stable condition when they disconnected. He ran to the small silver box in the cabinet above Rey's head.

A distinct pain began to creep up in his left arm for seemingly no reason. He hissed through his teeth at it, but this was not his pain. Something had happened to Rey's arm in the same spot. The Force was telling him what was wrong, and he suspected a broken bone was to blame.

Grabbing the first aid kit, he crouched down next to her, grabbing an instant cast from its contents. It had been so long since they had touched each other's hands through the bond. Ben could only hope that he could help her heal. He gently laid a hand on Rey's shoulder.

Sound returned to Ben's ears, the rumble of the shuttle and the beeping of the controls bursting to life. This usually marked the end of a Force session, but Rey still lay in front of him, knocked out and hardly breathing. His hand almost seemed stuck to her. His breath stopped for a moment. She was here in the ship with him somehow, physically here. He couldn't fathom how, but right now that wasn't a concern.

Moving quickly, he unpackaged the instant cast. It resembled a roll of gauze soaked in a substance that would harden when exposed to the heat of a lifeform's skin. He took Rey's arm up to a workable level as gingerly as he could and wrapped it up. He had never noticed how many scars she had on her fingers.

The opposite wall was affixed with a comfortable bunk. Placing Rey's casted arm on her chest, he put his arms under her back and legs and lifted her up. With no pillows in sight, Ben unclipped his cape and balled it up. He placed the soft fabric under Rey's head, hoping to insure a more comfortable sleep. He couldn't help but look down at her face as he carefully set her down amid the sheets. Seeing her vulnerable and hurt like this pierced his heart.

Ben walked away from her and sat heavily back down in the pilot's seat. He placed his head in his hands and breathed out. The bond he and Rey shared didn't reveal their surroundings to one another. If the Force allowed him to pull her over to his side something terribly wrong must have happened on her end. Reuniting with her topped his list of priorities, but things turned out in a way he hadn't expected. Despite her worrying condition, part of him reveled in her presence as he had before.

A loud gasp a few minutes later shook Ben out of his thoughts. He moved his hands from his face just as Rey slammed back down into the bunk.

"Rey?" he asked softly, moving towards her.

"How… where am I?"

"I'll try to explain later. Even I don't really know what's happening, but you're on one of my escape craft for now. You're safe." At least they could now both be confused about this new development.

"But how did I…" She attempted to sit up again but cried out.

"You need to rest. I'll try to find us a safe place to land," he urged, holding out his hand to keep her still. Her pain distressed him.

Nov Sensum was where they needed to go. The shuttle couldn't be tracked by conventional means and any officer would assume a desperate jump to lightspeed as far away from the destroyers as possible. If the Force was watching over them, Hux's forces would pass them by as they hid out on the surface of the remote planet. Rey would rest and heal, and they could continue on their way.

Ben grabbed ahold of the controls and swerved towards the planet's deep blues and greens. Soon plump clouds began to appear, and then the outline of lakes and forests. A mountain range formed below them, surrounded by tall, silvery evergreen trees. Two suns shone in the sky, one white and one yellow. It appeared to be nearing evening.

One large lake caught Ben's attention and he made a beeline for it. Fresh water would be crucial to their survival here. Luckily there was a small clearing by this lake he could land the shuttle and he prepared the ship to settle there.

Leaves scattered and trees waved in the wind the shuttle generated as its landing gear deployed and settled upon the grassy space. Ben opened the hanger doors and a wave of fresh air entered the cabin. It was a bit chilly despite the brightness of the two suns.

Rey was still fast asleep in her bunk. Ben passed her as he walked outside into the sunshine and a gorgeous sight met his eyes.

The shuttle was embedded in a mountain valley. The lake a hundred feet away mirrored the blue glow of the sky. Yellow and purple wildflowers dotted the ground around Ben's black boots. Some of the mountain tops glistened with snow which had yet to be melted. Everything had a new and crisp look to it. A world for new beginnings. Something in the Force told Ben this, and he put his hands behind his head to drink it all in.

As far as Ben knew they had plenty of emergency ration to last them a couple weeks. Fuel for fires stood all around them in the form of tall trees. The lake provided a source for water, food, and washing. To be honest they couldn't have found a nicer place to hide and wait.

"Where are we? What's going on?" asked a voice thick with drowsiness.

Rey had wandered out of the shuttle and now squinted in the brilliant sunlight. Soot still covered her face and clothes and the arm with the instant cast hung limply by her side. The lengths of fabric she usually wrapped around her torso were loose and trailing behind her. All in all, she was a pathetic sight.

"We're on Nov Sensum. Rey you should be resting—"

"Don't tell me what to do," she murmured, waving his suggestion away with her good hand. She slowly walked up to him and stared him straight in the eye, light brown meeting dark.

"I want an explanation and I want it now. Why did I turn up in your ship as mine was burning down?"

Ben chewed at his lip. "You appeared in the shuttle as I was flying away. Your arm was broken so I tried to help you, and I touched your shoulder and you appeared there, physically."

Rey shook her head in disbelief and turned away from him. "This can't be real. I knew what we had was strange but… I never expected it to go like this."

"Well, that makes two of us."

Rey looked back over her shoulder at him. "What do we do now?"

"We wait for you to heal up and then we can think of something," he said, his voice trailing off towards the end.

"I need to find the _Falcon_ ," Rey stated, wobbling a bit on her feet. "The Jedi texts and my staff are in there somewhere… I need to contact my friends…"

She started to sway dangerously. Luckily Ben ran to her side and caught her before her face hit the dirt. Her skin was hotter than it should have been.

"You need to lie down," he warned her. He picked her up in a bridal carry and transported her back to her bed on the shuttle. She didn't even attempt to struggle, she was so tired.

"Brings back old memories, doesn't it?" breathed Rey into his shoulder as Ben picked his way over the twigs and roots back to their ship.

The first time they had met in the flesh he carried her off in the same fashion to bring her to Starkiller Base and interrogate her. Come to think of it, the trees surrounding them resembled the ones from Takodana.

"Unfortunately, yes," he answered her.

But now things were different. She was in his arms not as a prisoner, but as a friend in need of care and rest. At least he thought of her as a friend, he was sure the feeling wasn't mutual. But perhaps it could grow to be, if Rey wanted to make that decision.

Once Rey lay quietly in the bunk once again, Ben ventured out by the lake, taking a metal canteen with him to carry water. The wind had picked up a bit, creating miniature waves on the surface of the lake. The color of the sky deepened to a navy blue right in front of his eyes. A deep red stripe lay atop each mountain peak as the suns dipped lower and lower. Admiring the view, he placed the canteen into the lake to fill.

That's when he noticed the lights from the top of the nearest mountain peak. They got brighter as the light slowly dimmed, a soft spattering of yellow on the darkening plane. No traces of civilization made themselves apparent when they had landed in the clearing. The inhabitants up there kept themselves well-hidden during the day.

Villagers meant a market and a market meant food and clean water and supplies. Ben scooped up what lake water the canteen could carry and walked quickly back to the shuttle, planning to tell Rey the good news if she happened to be awake.

And awake she was. Sitting cross-legged on her bunk, a ration wrapper already lay in her lap as she chewed a hearty hunk of jerky. The bread and dried lakeweed had already been devoured. Her mouth stopped moving as Ben walked in and shut the door behind him. Her cheeks were full of food and Ben couldn't help but think of a small forest creature. Rey quickly swallowed her food as if slightly embarrassed.

"I have some good news," he announced quietly, taking a seat in the pilot's chair.

"Can you take me back to the Resistance?" Her eyes widened in anticipation.

"Not yet. But there's a settlement in the mountains right by us. I can go tomorrow and get us new supplies."

He opened a small compartment in the wall next to him. A sizeable bag, filled with credits, filled the space inside.

"Hopefully we can get some help for your arm, too," he added. Her face had fallen at news about not contacting her friends, and he added this thought the try and raise her spirits.

She bit her lip in disappointment and put her good hand on her cast. "I haven't gotten hurt like this before. A broken arm or leg is basically a death sentence on Jakku, so I was always careful." She met his eyes with a fear Ben shuddered to see.

"Well, you're not there anymore. You're with me for now, like it or not, and I'll do what I can to keep you safe."

She sighed in acceptance of his words, but that look of primal fear still lingered on her face. "To be honest with you, that's the last thing I expected you to say to me the next time we met. On Crait, I thought you'd try to skewer me as soon as you had the chance."

"So, you knew we were going to meet again?"

"Not like this, but yes. It had to happen sometime, despite me not wanting it to." She took another enormous bite of jerky and chewed viciously.

Ben leaned forward in his seat and pressed the tips of his fingers together. "Well, I for one am glad we're not trying to kill each other."

"Same here, my arm would not be doing me any favors," she mumbled through her food. She handed him the rest of her stick of meat. "You want the rest of this?"

Scavenger manners never really went away, it seemed. The corners of his mouth moved upwards as he refused politely. She shrugged and stuffed the rest in her mouth.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked after a few moments passed. Outside the windows the sky had turned completely dark, stars shining like pinpricks of light through dark fabric.

"Because you needed help and I was there at the right time."

"Well, I know that, but why all of this?" She gestured at her cast and at the brightly lit shuttle they both occupied on a remote planet away from harm.

Instead of answering he held out the canteen of water to her, which she accepted with slight hesitation.

"I will get my answer." She took a quick sip and brushed her wrapper and crumbs off the blanket.

"Thank you, by the way." She held up her casted arm.

"Anytime."

Ben got up, flipping off the main cabin lights, and moved to the spacious padded bench on the opposite wall from the bunk. Rey had pulled the thin blanket over her and closed her eyes. His hands folded in his lap. He leaned back against the cushions of the headrest and shut his tired eyes, ready for another restless night. He knew the nightmares would come back. They did every time. But as his gaze drifted over to the girl nestled in her bunk, a feeling a peace fell over the cabin like cool silk sheet. Perhaps this time would be different. Perhaps this time things could finally change for the better.

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the longer periods between uploads. School's finally fully kicked in so I write when I can. Thank you all for your support!


	5. A Brawl in the Bazaar

Chapter 5

A Brawl in the Bazaar

Blue light from the morning sky outside brought Rey out of her deep slumber. Her arm still ached under her blanket, but her back felt less bruised and she finally had some energy in her again. The outline of the cabin grew clearer as her eyes adjusted to the near-darkness. Across from her the dark shape of her unexpected savior made itself visible. During the night he had fallen from his sitting position and curled up on his side in the seat, his back to her and his light snores drifting through the still air. His hair had grown a bit longer since Crait and parts of it hung off the edge of the seats.

Rey breathed through her nose and sat up in her bunk. Yes, the pain from her back had diminished since yesterday. She stretched her arms over her head and stifled a yawn as to not wake Ben. Did most everything heal overnight? It sure felt like it. Her hair hung in ragged strands around her grimy face, so she put it up in a half bun. She was in desperate need of a shower.

A quick wash in the lake would do her more good than sitting around here. Quietly she stepped onto the dark floor of the cabin. Creeping past Ben, she pressed the button by the doors and they slid open with a small hiss. Ben was as still as a corpse despite the noise. Rey nodded to herself and walked out into their clearing, shutting the entryway behind her.

The coolness of the morning breeze filled her lungs. An orange sun peeked over the horizon, a curious visitor to their place of safety. She touched the bark of every tree she passed, reveling in the earthy roughness of each trunk. The lake shimmered and swayed, throwing up sparks of reflected sunlight. Rey found a large rock by the water to sit on. She took a seat and popped off her dirty boots before easing her toes into the cool water. It felt incredible.

The quiet majesty of the surrounding mountains helped Rey's thoughts along as she sat and splashed water into her face and hair with her good hand. If it hadn't been for Ben, she'd be smashed to pieces in the wreckage of the _Millennium Falcon_. He wrapped up her arm and carried her to bed when she couldn't stand up. Why? They already knew each other more intimately than she thought was possible, but they had left each other in such a bad place on Crait. She had closed her door on him after all that he'd done to her, after he had betrayed her. Anger rose up in her at the very memory of his sad, sad eyes gazing up at her, begging forgiveness for his despicable actions.

Forgiveness never seemed like an option back then, but now things were scarily different.

She ran her fingers through the grooves of her cast, kicking her legs in the water and creating small splashes. It felt strange to have someone else bandage her up. It definitely wasn't an unpleasant change, though.

"Having fun?"

Ben appeared behind her, holding an open ration pack and chewing on a small piece of bread. In the dim light he looked like a massive shadow given life.

"Actually, I am," she replied. She kicked at the water, sending ripples throughout the giant lake. "You should join me. You look like you could use a good splash to the face."

"And have you ruin my carefully crafted grime? I think not," he grunted as he sat on the ground next to Rey's rock. He took out a chunk of jerky and bit into it, staring out into the water. It was a strange sight, seeing the former Supreme Leader cross-legged on the dirt, eating out of a plastic bag like she would have done on Jakku.

"Last night was my first real night of sleep in years," he said out of the blue.

Rey ceased her splashing and looked at him. The bags that usually underlined his eyes were not as pronounced, and the tired lines of his face seemed to have vanished.

"I'm glad. For once you don't look like utter bantha scat."

Ignoring her comment, Ben stood up and took off his gloves, then proceeded to dip his hands in the cold water and splash his face. The suns were almost completely up now, and their light shone on his wet hair. Rey saw her opportunity and took it. She kicked up, dousing Ben's face.

He shot up, coughing and spitting water out of his mouth.

"What was that for?" he choked.

"That's for Crait," she answered snidely.

Before Rey had time to react, Ben lifted his hand and Force-threw water into her face. Now it was Rey's turn to sputter and gag.

"That's for leaving me on the _Supremacy_ ," he countered. His tone was joking, but his face looked stony.

Anger rose up in her suddenly, but it quickly subsided. They both had things they needed to talk about, and a water fight was probably not the most mature way to about it.

"I am sorry," she told him, and she meant it. Immediately his expression changed to one of patience. The pair were silent for a moment or two.

"Me, too," he sighed, wiping the water off his face with his hand. His scar stood out to Rey more than it had before. The cut on her arm felt as if someone was pressing a fingertip to it.

His ungloved hands moved to unclip his soaked doublet.

"Do you mind?"

Rey shook her head, praying that the blush that crept up her cheeks wasn't too noticeable. He shrugged off the doublet to reveal a dark sleeveless top underneath. Rey sighed in relief. If she had to relive _that_ session again she'd sooner jump in the lake and swim away.

Drinking in the sunlight pouring over the valley, they both remained still and silent for a number of minutes. The shape of him standing beside her felt natural, like a puzzle piece fitting in precisely the right spot.

Rey's toes had surely shriveled up by now, and she took her feet out of the water. "You said there was a village up there?" she asked, pointed to the mountain in front of them.

He nodded. "We can go, if you're feeling up for it." He gestured to her cast.

"I'm feeling fine," she affirmed. "A million times better, actually."

"Looks like sleeping together did us both some good." Ben brushed the dirt off of his pants. His body was as broad and pale as she remembered.

Then he realized what he had said, and he bit his lip in embarrassment. Rey dipped her head, stifling an unkind laugh. She stood up and pulled on her boots.

They trudged back to the shuttle, Rey wringing out her hair and Ben tucking his doublet under his arm. The tension between them could be cut with a lightsaber.

Ben took the pilot's seat while Rey sat adjacent to him. Soon they were in the air and off to the hidden village. Rey's stomach growled at the thought of fresh food. The steam seemed to swirl right in front of her eyes.

"I think I saw them around here…" Ben thought out loud. Rey peered out the window as the shuttle descended lower and lower towards a clearing underneath them. A shudder told Rey they had landed, and the door lowered to invite them out.

A huge steep wall had been carved into the side of the mountain. Squat huts of timbers and stone sat on wooden pallets drilled into the cliffside, rope bridges and ladders connecting each house with its neighbors. Dozens upon dozens dotted the vertical space. Taller stone buildings lined the ground, torches standing by each entrance. A small dirt path wound around these structures. Smoke rose from some of the roofs and Rey could pick out snatches of chatter somewhere to their left.

"They must be all gathered somewhere," she said, and she marched forward towards the dirt road. Ben followed, a hand on his lightsaber. His eyes shifted around.

Their boots crunched on the gravel and the voices became louder. The path angled downwards, and Rey had to hold her arms out as the not slip and fall. There they came across what they had needed.

A vast marketplace occupied a great clearing of trees. Stalls were lined by the ring of trees surrounding them and more crowded the center. Villagers flowed from one vendor to another like a living river, haggling over prices and shouting about their wares. Smoke and steam rose into the sky and the smells that drifted from those clouds almost drove Rey mad. Red curtains clashed with the lighter wood of the stalls. But most curious of all were the villagers themselves. Rey had never seen creatures such as these. They were tall and slim, with cloven hooves for feet but long hands where hands should be. Long dark horns sprouted from long heads with narrow snouts, and Rey noticed some of them were adorned with small charms carved from pink stone. Each one sported light or dark green scales mostly covered by brown robes or loose-fitting pants and shirts. Families and their bouncing children walked from stall to stall, bleating in a language Rey couldn't understand. Judging by the apprehensive look on Ben's face, he didn't know either.

The two walked slowly toward the crowd. All at once every villager hushed their conversations and stopped in their tracks. A hundred curious eyes landed on Rey and Ben, forcing them to cease as well. Visitors were not common here, it seemed.

Ben's grip on his lightsaber tightened and he gritted his teeth, but Rey placed a hand on his shoulder. "They're not going to attack us," she whispered to him before directing her attention to the market.

"We are travelers from off-world," she announced to the mass of aliens. "We just want supplies and we'll leave when you want us to."

Only a few children stirred in their spots, but the rest of them remained still. A series of rhythmic thumps sounded from Rey's right and a villager, draped with deep red and green robes, approached them.

He looked much older, with a wiry white beard hanging from his chin. His horns were wrapped up in pink charms, and he walked with a long, intricately carved cane. His deep yellow eyes bore into Rey's, then Ben's. Her pulse quickened. Then the strangers wrapped his long, scaled hands around the top of his cane and spoke.

"You two are very powerful in the Force." He spoke Basic, but a thick accent permeated each word.

Rey and Ben looked at one another, reflecting the same confusion.

"Yes," Ben replied, and Rey nodded. Ben's hand returned to the weapon on his belt. "Why do you say that?"

"You must leave. Now. It's for your own good." The stranger turned from them and started walking back the way he came. The villagers still stared at the new arrivals expectantly.

Rey heard Ben scoff beside her "Can you give us a good reason, at least? This woman is hurt, and we need supplies." He gestured to Rey's cast, which she held up helpfully.

Suddenly a massive rumble tore through the air. Rey nearly jumped out of her singed clothes.

The old villager sighed and pointed a gnarled finger up into the sky. Ben's face twisted in anger.

A gray First Order destroyer now dominated the blue of the sky, and as Rey watched a small sleek transport ship launched from one of its sides and began to descend.

"It appears it is too late." The older alien glared at them. "They're here for you. Go and hide."

How had he known? Why was he helping them?

Ben and Rey looked at each other again, now with fear. Before she could say anything, Ben grabbed her hand and lumbered towards into the safety of a nearby building. Rey's heart startled at the sudden contact but ran after him into the arched doorway. His gloves were still gone, and his palm was warm. They crouched behind the doorway, which was thankfully shielded with a curtain of red fabric. She was careful not to touch his bare shoulder with hers.

The transport touched down where they had been standing a minute ago. Its doors opened with a menacing burst of steam and out stepped a dozen or so stormtroopers, blasters at the ready. Behind them strolled a small blonde woman dressed smartly in a black uniform. She walked with her hands tucked behind her back, surveying the scene with a sneer. Her look was almost flawless, with the exception of a large bruise on her left cheek.

Ben exhaled sharply and shifted his weight on his knees. He knew this woman. Not it a good way, judging by his reaction to seeing her.

She approached the old alien, who hit his cane into the dirt and stood his ground. The stormtroopers massed around him. Mothers in the marketplace held crying children, and fathers had unsheathed long spears. The whole sight sickened Rey and she held back from leaping from their cover and sprinting at this woman.

"I assume you already know why am here, Exbi," the First Order officer said sweetly. She wore a painted red smile that looked anything but inviting.

Exbi nodded, the charms on his horns clicking together. "The Force tells me things you wish you could know, Colonel Penma," he grumbled quietly. "Hopefully we can settle this quickly. Your troopers are scaring my people."

"Where are they? We've had theories that Ren may have run here instead of jumping to another quadrant. We think the scavenger girl is with him as well."

"I have seen no such people. Take your business somewhere else, you're wasting your time. I do not care about your Supreme Leader nor his antics." With a final tap of his cane Exbi turned away from the colonel and back towards to marketplace. The eyes of the villagers followed his every hobbling step.

"We're not finished yet," Penma snarled and she signaled to one of stormtroopers. He moved toward Exbi and grabbed him roughly by the collar. A blaster dug into the alien's temple. Some of the villagers shrieked in fear, a collective squeal that tore at Rey's heart.

She felt herself begin to duck out of the doorway, but Ben held her back with his arm.

"Are you insane?," he hissed through gritted teeth.

"I think you should start caring very soon here," Penma called to Exbi, her smile returning in full force. "You know where they are, I can tell. Or will I have to shoot some of your people to confirm my suspicions?"

"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Rey pushed his arm back and reached her hand out. The nearest stormtrooper was about twenty feet away. Rey wanted his blaster, and she closed her eyes and concentrated.

The weapon soared out of the trooper's grip and to Rey, where she caught it with relative difficulty in one hand. It was pretty heavy, and bulky, but she knew she could manage.

She aimed and fired right into the stormtrooper's chest.

He fell to the ground with a clatter and his comrades spun around, alerted by the noise. It was now or never. Rey burst from the doorway and ran at the troopers, blaster blazing. Her busted arm hung uselessly by her side.

"Blast her!" screamed Penma, forcing Exbi and the stormtrooper holding him back away from the fight.

Shots zipped past, but Rey was undeterred. She landed another bolt into an armored leg, another into a white-clad shoulder. They dropped into the dirt.

The crowd of villagers was moving erratically now, either taking cover or sprinting away from the firefight. The noise was enough to split Rey's ears, but she trudged forward, unleashing a barrage of lasers as fast as she could.

When the returning fire proved to be too thick, she dashed to the market in search of some cover. Ducking behind a stall stacked with roasted meat, she slammed her back into the wood and shot more rounds into the onslaught of troopers running her way. Shout of "She's this way!" and "Blast her!" rang out all around her. Despite her frightening situation, the savory scents of the food above rumbled her stomach.

One soldier appeared over the table of the stall, blaster pointing into her face. The cold, expressionless helmet took up most of her vision. A rush of pure fear for her life took over and her good arm struggled to lift the gun up to defend herself. It couldn't end like this.

Something black and metallic flew through the air and smashed the trooper's helmet with a resounding crunch. He fell straight to the dirt. Rey looked over the table and saw a frying pan lying next to the unconscious body.

"Rey! Are you alright?"

Ben skidded to a halt in front of her, his lightsaber hissing and spitting in time with his heavy breathing. His black hair had turned frizzy with sweat.

"I'm okay," she said quietly, slowly standing up. "You saved me."

"Of course. Why is that such a surprise?" Eyes wild, he turned as more troopers made their way towards them.

Two blaster bolts whizzed by his head and into the stall, incinerating the light wood.

"Here, trade me." He held out his lightsaber over the counter.

Rey tossed him the blaster and grabbed his lightsaber. Ben nodded quickly and sprinted to the next stall over, shooting over his shoulder. Incredibly, one bolt caught a trooper in the head and he collapsed instantly. Rey had to admit she was impressed.

Ben's blade was weightless, and her good arm rejoiced. She vaulted over the table and slashed down, bringing a stormtrooper down with it. One bolt almost caught her in the chest. She noticed just in time and held the saber out, blocking the blow. She almost smiled at her success, but another round of fire from their enemies forced her back.

She managed to stab one in the chest before slashing another through the shoulder. Sweat beaded for forehead and her adrenaline shot up tenfold. Having not held a working lightsaber in weeks, the exhilaration of it came back suddenly. The grace and style and the power.

Another trooper came up behind her suddenly and she turned on her heel to meet him, saber at the ready. Before the man could take another step, however, a red laser hit in square in the chest, knocking him back ward a little. Rey look up to see Ben jogging towards her, blaster smoking.

Now they were back to back, blaster and lightsaber protecting one another. The marketplace seemed to transform into Snoke's throne room before Rey's eyes, the feeling of familiarity was so strong. Instead of eight highly trained guards, though, only two stormtroopers remained. Rey blocked shots while Ben returned them, quickly finishing them off.

They stood still for a number or seconds. His breathing was deep and slow while hers was fast and shallow. His lightsaber buzzed in her hand, full of barely-contained power. Ben tossed the blaster to the ground and held out his hand. She placed the saber there with some care.

"Thank you," she panted, placing her hands on her knees. Her broken arm ached. She could feel the shape of him again, fitting in beside her. Looking up she met his eyes, which had calmed but were still steely. His face became softer.

"You're welcome," he responded, rubbing at his right arm. "It's been a while since I used a blaster."

"Kylo Ren!" a high-pitched voice belted from behind them. The two turned around to find Penma a short distance away with her last stormtrooper, who still held a gun to Exbi's head.

Ben's expression hardened again.

"Surrender to me or your friends die." She drew her small blaster from the folds of her uniform and aimed the barrel at Rey's chest.

He put his fists on his hips and didn't respond.

Rey looked at Ben in horror, but he stared straight ahead, not meeting her eyes. What was his plan? But something in her gut rose us. He had saved her before, he'd do it again now. She'd have to trust him. She didn't move.

Penma took the bait and shot towards Rey, an evil gleam in her icy blue eyes.

The laser stopped in midair for a split second, as if the air around it had frozen. Amazed, Rey's eyes followed the bolt as it bounced back and shot into the stormtrooper's head, knocking both him and Exbi into the ground.

Penma's mouth gaped in shock and she fired another shot towards Rey, which missed. This time Rey was ready.

She extended her hand and poured every ounce of will into one massive push. The colonel was swept off the ground and flew back ten feet, landing on her back in a pile of firewood. Rey cringed at the crunch of the impact.

"Nice job," Ben told her, a bemused tone settling in his voice. She noticed that one of his hands was open to the enemy like hers. He had deflected the bolt with his mind.

"That's the first time I've seen that happen," she said, fascinated.

"I never could get it to go back like that." He stared at his hand, as interested as Rey was. "We must be getting better."

Exbi still lay on the ground next to the dead trooper. Rey ran towards them and offered her hand to the older alien. He took it slowly and she lifted him off the dusty ground with ease. He weighed almost nothing. His cane lay a few feet away and she returned it to him.

"Thank you. Thank you both," he wheezed, brushing dirt off of his robes.

"I'm so sorry this all happened, you told us to leave." Rey looked over her shoulder at the remaining villagers. "Are any of you hurt?"

"They are all safe," answered Exbi. Villagers from all sides started to approach the two victors, eyes wide and snippets of awed chatter swirling through the air with the smoke. Ben turned off his lightsaber and clipped it back on his belt with a confused look to Rey.

A child dashed forward from the crowd and clung to Rey's leg with a small cry. She almost toppled over from the impact but held steady and patted the child on the back as it babbled in clicks and chirps.

"She's thankful you and the man were here to drive the bad men away," Exbi translated. Grinning with gratitude, Rey glanced over to Ben, who stood with his bare arms crossed over his chest. A small smile graced his lips. She found herself staring at him, entranced. Never before had she gotten more than a mean smirk out of him.

The child let go and ran back to its parents in the big crowd. Rey and Ben stood together as the villagers swelled around them, their conversations growing louder and more joyous. A few of them reached their hands out to touch them. Exbi remained a few feet back, his eyes closed and his face content. Rey flushed at the extensive attention while Ben looked as if he wanted nothing more than to fall through the ground.

"I'm afraid there is still a small matter to attend to," Exbi shouted to them over the din of the villagers. He turned to shuffle towards the woodpile where Penma had been thrown into and she and Ben followed.

The colonel lay spread eagle on her back with her sharp eyes closed in unconsciousness. Her previously spotless uniform was now smeared with dirt and dust. As soon as Ben and Rey approached, her eyes snapped open and regarding the them with upmost disgust.

"We will kill you, Ren. Hux and the others in command will make sure of that."

"I don't think you're in any position to make threats," Rey growled. She wished she had her staff, so she could bring it down across the officer's face.

"You think you're safe, scavenger? We'll hunt you down just like the desert beast you are, along with your lunatic boyfriend."

Ben crouched down to look her in the eye. His jaw was set.

"You can say whatever you want about me, but do not speak to her that way." A tremor shook his voice.

He held his hand over her head. "You will leave this planet and return to the _Finalizer_. There you will tell Hux you found nothing and that your troopers are patrolling the area just in case. You will also tell me what has happened to my guards."

"What?" she blithered. "Why would I do such a –"

"You will listen to him." Rey put out her hand as well and summoned her most commanding tone. He looked back at her, nodding in gratitude. Then both of them focused all of their attention on the mind they were trying to sway.

Penma's eyes glazed over and her mouth gaped.

"The guards escaped on a transport. We couldn't catch them." She said in a blank voice.

Ben sighed in relief and repeated his first order.

Penma stumbled out of the woodpile with some difficulty and walked slowly back to the open transport in a trance. Once inside, Penma closed the doors and the ship lifted into the sky and disappeared into the vast blue. Rey resisted the urge to sarcastically wave goodbye to their adversary.

"Two mind tricks at once? I'm surprised you didn't break her brain," Exbi chortled from behind. The old villager tapped his cane into the dirt in amusement.

"You know the ways of the Force?" Ben asked.

"I have since I was a younger man." Exbi tapped his temple. "Though, I've been more skilled in its precognitive disciplines rather than telekinetic. It helps with the business of leading a village such as this."

He held out his hand. "I've been expecting you two for quite some time. It's a pleasure."

Rey and Ben shook his hand, perplexed by his last words. Both of them have had visions, but apparently not to the extent this alien did.

"Now please, make yourselves at home. I'll have my best healers take care of that arm for you." Exbi stepped aside for a group of robed women, who gently took Rey by the arms and started leading her away. She couldn't understand a word of their friendly-sounding chatter.

She looked back at Ben with a confused smile, who gave her a little wave.

"And you, my friend," she heard Exbi say to Ben, "are in need of new clothes and a wash. I'll see to it that you are well taken care of."

Another group of women steered him in the same direction Rey was headed, back up to the hill towards the cliffside houses and rocky buildings. Seeing the helpless look on his face caused her to bubble with laughter. To her surprise she witnessed yet another smile, an awkward one but a little bigger than the last.

She turned back around, heart fluttering, and tried her best to take her focus away from him. Instead she listened closely to her companions.

First it was their time by the lake, then the rush of fighting together again, and now this. Rey gulped nervously. What else did the universe have in store for the two of them?


	6. A Crystalline Night

Chapter 6

A Crystalline Night

Late afternoon sunlight spilled into the Nov Sensum valley and directly into Ben's eyes. Even though this caused him great discomfort, he was too tired to move from his bench outside the healing hut. Rey had been in there for hours, but he had only just arrived a short while ago from a pampering session.

He was now fitted with new, loose fitting robes and pants, not completely black but dark enough to keep him satisfied. The Noves, as they called themselves, drew him a bath, gave him new clothes, and supplied him with smoked meats and fresh vegetables he had never seen anywhere else in the galaxy. Stomach full and his body finally clean, he sat back and closed his eyes to the suns. He felt rooted to his spot, as if the universe had been steering him to this very spot, this very moment, for weeks. His memory struggled to recall a settlement so gracious and kind to him. Not showing up as the evil Supreme Leader had probably helped his case.

Villagers bustled around him, carrying bundles of kindling and wares from the market. Dozens of hooves hit the dirt and sunlight glinted through the charms on their horns. Once in a while a Nove would stop and stare but never for too long. Ben couldn't say he enjoyed the attention but not having everyone around you want to blast you to kingdom come was a nice change of pace.

"Solo."

Ben jumped at his name and opened his eyes to find Exbi standing only a few feet away, hands on his cane. An intense look occupied his yellow eyes.

"I want you to walk with me for a moment. There are things I wish to discuss."

Ben looked at the entrance to the hut where Rey was, a thick curtain blocking his view inside.

"Your friend Rey will step out of that building as soon as we are done. Don't worry about missing her." Exbi began to shuffle away, expecting his guest to follow along.

Ben stood up in a hurry, unease clenching his chest. He didn't want to stray too far from Rey, but whatever the village leader wanted to talk about was probably important. Dirt scraped under boots and hooves alike as they slowly journeyed out of the main village and into the cool shade of the surrounding evergreen trees. Their sleek black shuttle was parked a little ways away. They followed a rough road through the forest, the soft thuds of Exbi's cane coming down in time with his footsteps.

"You love her, don't you?" the older alien asked when Ben had been silent for a number of minutes.

"What?" He stopped dead in his tracks. His heart hammered, a guilty sound.

"Judging by your tone, I will take that as a yes."

"No, it's not like that. I—" He angrily bit his lip and looked into the thick forest to collect his thoughts. Visions of her flashed in and out of sight like sparks in the night. Her stand against him on Starkiller Base, her face afraid yet determined. The shine of her wet hair in the light of the fire on Ach-To. Her graceful and ferocious technique on display in Snoke's throne room.

"Yes," he finally sighed in resignation.

"There it is," Exbi said softly, no trace of sarcasm or pettiness in his words. "There's no need to feel ashamed, my friend."

He didn't want this conversation to go any further. Every faint breath of wind scraped on his skin, he felt so vulnerable.

"I asked you this to confirm my suspicions and to give you advice. The Force binds all living things. It is true that the Force is powerful, but it takes that power from living things. Your actions are your own. Yes, the circumstances may line up in just the right way, but you chose to reach out to her. You chose to save her from that crash. You chose to forgive her and look within yourself to fix matters between you two."

Ben had spent years fortifying himself both physically and mentally, but now this stranger was reading him like a children's book. Shame broiled his insides. He finally swallowed his pride and looked into Exbi's face, which wore a patient and accepting expression.

"You've had choices to make this entire time. A choice to abandon her or to nurture her. To kill her or to save her. The Force may be guiding you part of the way, but your heart will take you where you want to go."

The village leader paused. Ben gritted his teeth and waited for more.

"I've only known you two for a number of hours, but I can tell you need each other. Don't ever give up on her and she will never give up on you. Keep making those choices. Not only will you bring balance to the galaxy but also to one another."

This was a lot to take in. Ben stood silently, mouth open in astonishment. The relief coursing through his body came as a surprise as well. Saying his feelings and being given advice had helped instead of hurt.

Exbi moved towards the way they had come. His long robes dragged on the ground behind him. "I just hope when the time comes you'll know what to do."

Ben followed a short distance back, emotionally defeated. He wanted to ask what the older Nove had meant, but his gut told him that asking was useless. Only a vague, cryptic response would await him.

They made it back to the wall of huts. Like Exbi had predicted, Rey was standing outside the stony entrance of the medicinal building in the midst of a huge crowd of Nove women. Her new clothes resembled her older ensemble, all wrappings and crisscrossing fabric. However, these clothes shone a sunny yellow and, paired with her radiant smile, she almost glowed.

She spotted him immediately and ran over. Her brown hair was pinned back in a loose half bun as it had been before. The soot and dirt had been washed from her face.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad to see you." She crossed her arms and cocked her head. "Are you alright? Your face is red, did you feel well?"

His blush from the conversation with Exbi hadn't disappeared in time.

"I'm fine," he muttered while struggling to keep his breathing steady, "but how are you doing?"

She proudly held up her arm. No cast or signs of damage were visible.

"Looks like they did a nice job," he commented.

"Not so helpless now, would you say?"

"I don't have to carry you around anymore."

"I guess not." Her voice was oddly wounded, but Ben didn't draw attention to it. Instead he and Rey began to stroll around the village. Rey took a great interest in the cliffside huts and babbled on and on about their ingenuity:

"Can you imagine how much work it would take to bolt those supports up there?"

"I wonder if they've had to scavenge for parts."

"Have you seen ships around? Do they have any?"

Ben listened patiently, giving the occasional grunt of acknowledgement, throwing in some of his takes on building. The gleam of her brown eyes and the elaborate gestures of her hands increased his admiration for her tenfold. Not only did she seem to know more about handiness than he had ever learned or will learn in his life, but every word she spoke carried passion and excitement.

All of the tension from that morning, from everything that had happened between them, seemed to evaporate into the afternoon sun like water. Ben only wished every moment with Rey could be like this, free of the pain and confusion of the past few weeks. Right now, they were two people talking about normal things, things that didn't concern the welfare of the entire galaxy.

When they reached what they assumed was the center of town a colorful sight met their eyes. The Noves were hanging gold and white banners between buildings and trees. Lanterns hung from the boughs of trees, not yet lit. Some villagers were sweeping the ground, a massive circle of roughly hewn stone tiles. A wooden platform stood at the edge of the circle as what Ben realized was a stage. Long tables circled the pavilion. This all had to be some kind of festival or party.

"Good. You two are here."

Exbi rounded a corner as Ben and Rey gazed at the spectacle around them. His robes were now gold with white trim and his horns were now adorned with pieces of clear crystal. His hooves clopped on the stone ground.

"You arrived here just in time for our monthly ball. Come to think of it, we wouldn't have been to hold it tonight if it wasn't for your help earlier today."

"I glad we could help," Rey nodded. "You've all been so kind to us. Is there anything we could do?"

The village leader pointed above them to a series of thick ropes tied between the surrounding trees. Two Nove men appeared, carrying a large bucket filled with the same crystals that hung from Exbi's horns. Each crystal had a hook clipped into the top.

"We could use a bit of Force power to get our decorations up there, if you wouldn't mind."

Both Ben and Rey lifted their hands to the ball. They looked at each other but shrugged and decided to work together. He felt the familiar floating sensation in his chest as the crystals levitated upwards like a reversed rainfall. One by one they settled onto their ropes and sparkled above the crowd of working villagers. Some of them had stopped what they were doing and gazed up at the Force-users' feat of beauty.

A couple of Noves clapped and cheered in their alien language. Rey turned to Ben and gave him a satisfied half smile. He nodded, trying to not to stare at her lips or eyes for too long.

"I suppose you two will be joining us for the festivities?" Exbi asked. He shot a knowing glance at Ben, who felt his insides simmer with frustration.

Exbi had struck a nerve during their talk and the more space between him and the older villager, the better.

"We'd love to! We'd be humbled." Rey jabbed him in the arm with her elbow. "Right, Ben?"

He'd never cared for dances. Many nights in his youth were passed clinging to his mother's leg while she and other politicians talked business over music that was played much too quietly to be enjoyed. Hours of dancing lessons had only affirmed his distaste for such events. He had wanted to walk back to their shuttle and settle there for the night. Even so, Rey's expectant smile softened his heart, and he nodded.

"We'll be starting shortly. Please, have a seat and take a drink." Exbi waved to the table to their right, which had been set up with wooden mugs of dark steaming liquid while they had talked. Rey darted towards the array of beverages and took a hearty sip out of one of the cups. Ben followed slowly, wary of her reaction.

"Here, take one, it's so good!" Rey held out a mug to Ben, her lips already dyed a deep red. The drink smelled sweet and smoky, like a spiced wine. Ben took one cautious sip. It was delicious, she was right about that. He looked at Rey and downed the entire thing in two swallows. This move impressed even Rey, who raised her eyebrows. She held her mug in both hands and chugged its contents, matching his speed.

"Is this a contest now?" he smirked.

"It could be," she said, licking her lips.

They stood and drank a couple more mugs as more and more villager trickled into the pavilion. They all wore gold and white robes like their leader. A small gathering of musicians took to the stage just as the two suns had started to set. A large white moon, pocked with craters, rose up over the mountains, bathing the village in a silvery glow. Ben looked up and saw the light refracting through the clear crystals, throwing pale sparks onto the circle of stone and its inhabitants.

The musicians plucked at small stringed instruments, their songs flowing through the cool evening air like splashes of water. Alien chatter began to ramp up. A burst of laughter would sound now and again. For a small town in a forest on a remote Outer Rim planet, the Noves sure knew how to throw a nice party. The tall marble columns and arched windows of his mother's galas were too cold and sterile. If Ben had gone to dances like this, he'd have more fond memories to think back on.

The crowd suddenly hushed almost instantly. Exbi slowly climbed up to the center of the stage, cane strinking the wooden planks. He gave a small cough and held up his hands before his people. Ben straightened up out of respect and Rey followed suit beside him, cheeks bulging with drink.

"Everyone, I'm sure you all are already aware of our guests and the great service they have done for us today. It is because of their valiant efforts to protect us that we are here at all. We only ask that our _Bulani_ and _Selisa_ , our moon and sun, make their way to the center of the circle and have our first dance of the night."

Blood rushed to Ben's cheeks, mouth gaping. Rey wore an almost identical expression of embarrassment. A hundred eyes searched them out in the crowd and an expectant quiet welled up. The pavilion was a sea of green scales, and Ben struggled to swallow his fear. A dance? With Rey? In front of all of these people? Moon and Sun? He could tell from Exbi's smug look that he had planned this from the very beginning.

He threw back his shoulders and took a deep breath. Exbi was giving him a chance with Rey, and he would be a fool not to take it.

He stood in front of Rey, one hand tucked behind his back and the other extended to her.

"Shall we?" he asked as coolly as he could muster.

Her flustered look turned soft and she put her hand carefully in his.

"Of course, your Highness," she answered with a bit of a sarcastic bite.

He led her out onto the center of the pavilion where the crowd had politely parted. Shards of moonlight refracted into the crystals above alighted on Rey's skin like flecks of snow. As she looked up into the sky Ben cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Have you danced before?"

"No…" She glanced down at her waist and then into his eyes. They widened in confusion. "Is this how's it done?"

"In some cases. Follow me and you'll pick it up soon enough."

The band onstage struck up a swift yet elegant waltz. Ben's childhood lessons kicked in and he began to sway and step with the rhythm. The muscle memory hadn't faded with time at all.

Rey stumbled along, stepping on his boots and moving in and out of time. Her cheeks burned red and her hand began to sweat.

"Ben, this is…"

"Awful, I know." The eyes of the villagers drilled into the back of his head. "We'll get through it. Watch my feet, there's a pattern."

Rey stared down at his feet as they continued to waltz. The music would crescendo, then drop down again to keep them on their toes. It took a minute or so for Rey to finally get her bearings. Her movements grew more rhythmic and coordinated, hair swinging in time with their bigger steps. She gripped his hand more tightly and leaned into his hand on her shoulder more with each passing step.

"See, I'd knew you'd get it eventually," Ben assured her. His hair fell into his eyes as he glanced down at their shuffling boots.

"This is actually pretty fun, even with you," she commented, stepping extra wide so Ben had to lunge forward to keep up.

The tempo began to accelerate. Villagers around them paired off and escorted each other onto the dance floor. Soon dozens of dancers circled Ben and Rey, white robes twirling and golden trim catching the light of the crystal decorations above. An undercurrent of tinkling laugher and talk could be heard all around them. Each time Ben faced the stage he caught a glimpse of Exbi, watching the festivities proudly. Once or twice Ben swore he saw the village leader wink at him from afar.

Rey danced with a newfound passion, swinging around so that her yellow robes caught the air and fluttered. She had fully mastered the steps. Her hand was small and light in his, but she moved with such momentum that betrayed her true power. Her chest was so close his he prayed that she couldn't hear his heart pounding over the music and the din of the crowd.

During his long hours in his dark throne room he would imagine scenarios like this. Just nice, calm moments the two of them could share if they ever managed to escape the war. Now here he was, dancing with her as if nothing else in the galaxy could touch them. The most pleasant of daydreams paled in comparison to this.

The music grew faster still. Ben, lost in thought, tripped over Rey's feet and plummeted to the ground. Before his face slammed into the dirt, however, the air seemed to solidify and catch him. Stomach dropping, he saw Rey with her arm stretched out to him. She had used the Force to save him to an embarrassing fall.

"And I thought I was bad at this," she mused

Then she laughed, a laugh unlike any he had heard from her before. It was hearty and genuine, and a smile couldn't help but cross Ben's lips at the sound of it.

She paused and met his eyes, warmth radiating from her round, freckled face. Ben felt himself being lifted back to his feet and they both paused, staring at one another as the music swelled around them. Time seemed to freeze under the pale glow of the moonlight.

The song abated and the dancers around them clapped politely. Exbi nodded to Ben from the stage and signaled for the musicians to continue on. A new song started, this time a lively and catchy jig.

"I can work with this," Rey said, and she grabbed Ben's hands before he could react. Swinging both their arms, she began to pull in in circles, feet skipping to the beat.

"I don't think I know this one," he told her.

"It's my own original technique," she boasted, switching directions and nearly knocking Ben to the ground again. He didn't mind in the slightest. His heart soared with the strings.

"Here, I've got another one for you," he murmured over the noise of the crowd. He placed his right hand on her back. "I'll dip you on three."

"If you say so."

Ben counted, and Rey leaned back onto his hand, hair grazing the stones of the pavilion floor. She let out a startled squeak but quickly laughed it off as Ben pulled her back up to the amused cheers of the surrounding dancers. Shouts of " _Bulani_ " and " _Selisa_ " rose up.

This song was shorter and ended as quickly as it had started. Another round of clapping echoed into the trees beyond. Ben and Rey were both panting from the effort. For the first time in his life the dark clothing he usually wore became too hot for him, even though the night air sat cool against his skin.

Once again, the musicians queued up a waltz, this one slower and heavier than the last. The dancing villagers around them wound down and spun in slow circles, clinging to one another with closed eyes and small smiles.

They assumed the same positions as the first dance, moving slower this time. Rey's eyes met his as they swayed and stepped.

Ben breathed in the music and sighed. "I don't know about you, but I'm enjoying myself."

Rey smirked. "To be honest, I am, too."

They stopped talking a moment before Rey spoke up: "Want to go back to the shuttle and sleep?"

Ben considered for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Let's get out of here."

The two of them walked briskly out of the pavilion, waving back to the rest of the villagers.

"Thank you all!" Rey shouted as the dancers shouted their good graces. "We'll be back, don't you worry!"

"We'll see you soon, sun and moon," Exbi called over the crowd, waving his cane in the air.

The path back to the shuttle was illuminated with soft moonlight. Music still trickled through the thick trees as they walked, soon giving way to a deep quiet. The only sounds now were the crunch of tree needles under two pairs of boots.

"Thank you," said Rey suddenly, her tone terse.

"For what?"

"For all of this."

"You're welcome," he replied gently.

"You know what's strange? I haven't thought about contacting Finn or Leia or the others this entire time."

Ben turned to her and found that her expression was one of guilt, her jaw clenched against whatever thoughts she had brewing in her head.

"I don't know why, but even when I was surrounded by people in the Resistance, I felt so much worse than I did now. Right now, with you, I feel… whole."

He ran his fingers down the length of his scar. "I feel it, too."

"Do you think… now and after all of this is over… we could be friends? Let the past between us die, as you say?"

Her hand extended to him, fingers trembling.

Ben swallowed his terror down. Now was the time that Exbi was talking about this afternoon. He knew what he had to do, what he must say to her. But even with the words sitting on the tip of his tongue he couldn't find the strength to do it. He chewed at his lip.

He took her hand slowly and nodded.

"Of course," he answered. Cold disappointment flooded his veins, but he forced the feeling back. There was still time to tell her. Maybe he still had a chance.

She smiled gratefully, then continued to walk beside him. "What I want to know is how you learned to dance like that. Did you practice with your guards in your throne room?"

"Well, my old lessons came in handy. Did I ever tell you the story of Madame Lefronte?"

"I don't believe you have. Is it an embarrassing sort of story?" Her eyes glinted mischievously.

"She was the worst, worse than Luke ever was. There was one lesson in particular that put me off ballroom dancing for life…"

They talked and laughed as they strolled deeper into the forest to their shuttle, the wind whispering through the trees. Sleep awaited both of them, and Ben looked forward to another restful night with Rey just a few feet away.


	7. A Watery Veil

Chapter 7

A Watery Veil

The warm days in the mountains slowly slipped by until a week had passed since their arrival. Daily trips into Vaas Minas, the village, gifted them with as many supplies and clothes as Ben's bag of credits could buy. Penma and the First Order were nowhere to be seen. Their mind trick seemed to have worked its magic. For how much longer they couldn't say.

When they weren't discussing plans with Exbi or exploring the forests surrounding the village, Rey and Ben spent the quiet hours sleeping, reading the books they had bought, or talking. Sometimes a conversation between them went on well into the night, memories and hopes and dreams laid out under a starry sky. If someone had told her that she and the Supreme Leader would be swapping stories like children at a sleepover, she would have carted them off to the nearest medical bay.

He did indeed a way with words, and his account of Madame Lefronte's dance lessons from a few nights ago had here rolling in her bed. Though she'd never been able to get a laugh out of him the entire time. She was curious to see him laugh but didn't push too hard.

Metal doors hissed open as Rey stepped back inside the shuttle, having just returned from a grocery run to the village. Luckily a few market stalls had been open that night and she decided to make a trip there before sleeping the rest of the night away. Cold air seeped into the cabin and Rey scrambled to shut the doors back up.

In the last few days their little ship had garnered a cozy vibe, as if they'd lived here their whole lives. The whirrs of the control panels seemed to chirp their greetings. New clothes were neatly folded of draped over chairs, ready to be worn. A few ration pack wrappers littered the dark floor, not unlike her old home in that imperial walker. A couple of new staffs leaned against the far side of the room, bought a few days ago. She kicked off her boots and set her bags down on a small countertop, smiling a bit as she settled into her bunk and pulled the covers over her.

Ben lay across from her under a brand-new knitted blanket gifted to them by a thankful Nove villager, eyes closed and breathing steady. His hair fell untidily into his face, as black and wavy as ever. Stubble had begun to line his jaw in the last couple of days. It wasn't a bad look, Rey had to admit that.

"How did it go?" he asked sleepily, shifting under his covers.

"Fine." Rey lay still for a few moments. "You know, you don't have to keep sleeping on that bench. Take my bed for the night."

"No, I'm fine here." He rolled over carefully, nose an inch from the wall.

"Come on, you can barely fit yourself on there. We're switching." Rey climbed down and dragged her blankets along. "Get up, you deserve the big bed."

"As you wish," he grunted, sitting up and shuffling to the bunk. Rey plopped down in Ben's spot, which still radiated with his body heat. Blushing slightly, she lay down while Ben almost fell into the mattress across from her.

"Thanks," he murmured, pulling his blankets up to his chin and closing his eyes.

Rey curled up on her makeshift bed and flipped the lights off with a small wave of her hand. Ben's dark silhouette still stood out in the near-darkness of the cabin, his snores already filling the air. It was as if he were making up for years of lost sleep in the span of a few nights, the way he just dropped off. He had mentioned the nightmares that day by the lake. They appeared to be under control now, at least.

It took her a few minutes to notice, but Rey caught herself staring at Ben across the aisle of the cabin. His large frame rose and fell with his snores.

How could he be so angry one minute, yet so gentle and patient the next? The first time they had met on Takodana, the rippling black robes and spitting red lightsaber of a ruthless monster had greeted her before taking her hostage. Now a mere man lay across from her, with a personality and feelings and stories he enjoyed sharing with her. To say this contrast perplexed her was an understatement.

They had both agreed to become friendlier to each other and disregard the acts of the past, but she was the one who held out her hand after the dance, as she had done on Ach-To. Why? Everything felt simpler before, when they partnered out of necessity. No need to complicate their already complicated relationship.

But she had wanted to reach out again. It was insane to her, but she actually enjoyed spending all this time with him. The time by the lake, the fight, then the dance. Something stirred just under the surface between them, and her more curious side goaded her to dig deeper and see what she could unearth. The other part of her begged for these new feelings to end.

Rey lay on her back and slid her arms behind her head. Whatever happened, she would eventually make it back to her friends and the Resistance, with or without Ben. She'd already been away too long, and her ears burned with shame when she realized how long it had taken her to consider contacting her friends again.

She looked over to Ben one more time before taking a deep breath and letting the weight of her covers lull her to sleep.

…

When Rey awoke late the next morning, the bed across from her was already empty. As she straightened up to find him, her back ached something dreadful. How Ben had slept soundly here for multiple nights and not complained was beyond her. One night had her wanting to scream into the heavens.

One of the staffs was missing from its spot on the wall. She snatched to other one, knowing just what her roommate was up to. Walking groggily out of the shuttle, she squinted in the sunlight and smacked the morning breath out of her mouth. Keeping her hair up had minimized her bedhead, but her robes were untidy. It didn't really matter, neither her nor Ben cared too much.

She found him a few hundred feet away, up on a small hill and standing in front of a tree, staff in his hands and feet wide in a fighting stance. He would swing the staff in hissing arcs but stop just before making contact with the bark. Wearing only a dark tank top and pants, she could see his muscles working as he trained. Surprisingly, he had put his hair up in a half-bun very similar to her trademark look.

"Are you planning on stealing my style?" she shouted to him, pointed at her own head. He turned and smirked, lowering his weapon.

"It keeps my hair out of my face, so I might consider it." He spun the staff in one hand while putting the other on his hip. "Did I wake you up? I left as quietly as I could—"

"No, you're fine. I woke up on my own and wanted to see what you were up to."

"I'm not up to much, just trying to stay on top of things." He sent his staff swinging at the tree once more, stopping it just inches from the bark.

Rey nodded, biting her lip. She rolled her own staff in her hand.

"You want a bit more excitement?" she asked with a smirk of her own, pointing her weapon at his chest and readying her own stance.

Raising his eyebrows, Ben suddenly lunged forward and swung from the side. Rey blocked his blow and returned with a jab to his midsection. He managed to jump out of the way and swing with both arms, the staff whistling as it came towards her.

Another block, this time with Rey pushing her staff out and spinning around to get at his left leg. To her satisfaction her swing landed right where she wanted, forcing her opponent to take a knee. As he struggled to stand up she held her staff inches from his neck, baring her teeth.

"Not bad," he muttered, "Let's see if you're so lucky next time."

He clambered back up and bent his knees. Rey came at him again, striking straight down. Ben held up his staff and caught her just before he suffered a blow to the head. She jabbed and slashed at him and quick succession, but to no avail. Rey panted and swung harder and harder. He swatted away each attack, but with growing difficulty. That steely look in his deep brown eyes had returned. It was enough to bring back memories of their clash on the collapsing Starkiller Base, when she was good, and he was evil, and the world was blissfully black and white.

Rey mistimed her chance to block and Ben forced the staff out of her hands. It landed on the pine needles with a crunch that signified her defeat. He aimed his staff over her heart.

"You got me that time," she admitted, a little flustered. She did have to keep in mind that he was fully active this go around and not incapacitated by a massive wound to the side.

"Again?" he asked.

"I'm all for it."

Now they fought tooth and nail, staffs slicing the air and smashing against one another with loud clangs. Rey experimented with new counters and thrusts, but it was as if Ben could read her mind. He most likely could, come to think of it.

Despite the ferocity of their attacks, Rey found herself grinning as they wailed on each other. Every nerve in her body tingled with newfound awareness. Sparring with Finn and Poe had been fun, but what Rey had really craved was a true challenge. For the first time in a long time, she felt engaged and powerful.

Ben placed his hands near the ends of his weapon and forced himself forward. Rey mirrored his position and in seconds they pushed against each other in a kind of stalemate. She could hear his heavy breathing and see a bead of sweat run down his forehead. His back was to the slope of the hill and Rey found her chance. She called upon all of her strength and rammed against him.

Ben yelled as he toppled over backwards. His foot caught Rey around the calf and she let out a scream as they both fell and tumbled down the hill, flinging pine needles and leaves into the air. Each slam onto the ground earned her a new bruise for later.

Ben stopped rolling just before Rey. He was splayed on his back and breathing heavily when Rey bounced toward him, crying out with each impact. Before he could even react, Rey landed squarely on top of him, face down. They both grunted painfully, then Rey froze, realizing the position they had fallen into.

His body practically dwarfed hers, rising and falling with each breath. Her nose was inches away from his and his and it proved impossible not to meet his gaze. Rey felt as mortified as Ben looked, his cheeks burning red as if from a high fever. And she thought holding hands was as far as physical contact was going to be.

A few seconds passed and neither of them moved a muscle. His heart beat scarily fast, Rey could feel it against her own chest.

With a strangled gasp she rolled off of him, wishing to be buried under the ground where she lay. Ben sat up next to her, combing needles and pebbles out of his hair. His blushed covered his entire face and neck now.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea that was going the happen," she whispered.

"It's alright." He sounded like he had been hit over the head with a frying pan. Standing up shakily, he held out his large callused hand to her.

She took it gingerly and he lifted her up, avoiding eye contact. Her heart seemed to bruise her ribs from how fast it pounded.

"Should we call it good?" His voice sounded a few octaves higher than usual. Their staffs had flown down the hill and landed a few yards away. With a swift beckoning motion, they flew towards him to rest in his shaking hands. Fighting in the snow with a gut wound or facing highly-skilled guards did nothing to shake the mighty Kylo Ren, but a girl falling on top of him proved to be much more than he could handle.

"Yes," she returned briskly, "let's head back."

They began their short walk back to the shuttle. Each footstep Rey took seemed to echo in the awkward silence that flourished between them. Ben kept his head low and his eyes to the ground.

"Thanks for the spar," Rey said.

"Don't mention it."

"I still beat you one round. Looks like you still need some practice."

"But I got you another time, didn't I?"

"And that last time didn't end well…"

"Call it a draw?"

"Yes, let's do that."

Their shuttle had just drifted into view, covered in the dappled sunlight shining through the trees. They clambered through the door and plopped down on the bench, wiping sweat from their brows.

"So…what's on the schedule for today?" he asked.

Rey shrugged. "We could head down to the marketplace and buy some more food, or fill up the canteens or…"

But she drifted off. A high-pitched ringing slowly increased in volume in her ears and something was pulling at her chest, as if someone had tied a string to her heart. Her eyes widened in surprise and she raised her hand slightly, hoping to place the sensation.

"Do you feel that?" she asked quietly, meeting his eyes. They were as shocked as hers. His mouth was open in awe.

"Yes."

They both stood up simultaneously. The feeling grew stronger, and Rey had the inexplicable urge to go back outside. She opened the doors and wandered out into the forest, Ben following closely. Deeper and deeper into the darkening woods they walked.

Half an hour passed, each step forward increasing the intensity of the pulling force. Neither of the spoke but kept moving, trance-like. Rey had a bad feeling about this, but something told her to keep moving, her very livelihood depended on it. Stepping over fallen logs and piles of stones, they finally reached what they assumed was their destination.

A narrow waterfall crashed down into a clear pond a hundred feet away. The tall cliff the water spilled off of concaved inwards, as if an ocean wave were carved into dark stone. Their boots seemed to hit rock, and Rey peered down. Strangely, the ground all around the waterfall was made up of small stone rods, each on perfectly hexagonal in shape and ascending upwards towards the falling water like stairs. Maybe it was just Rey, but the air itself hummed with an energy so faint she questioned that it was really there. It was as if this whole place was holding its breath for something, but what could that be?

She began to climb the rough stone steps up to the tumbling water. Ben hesitated at first but then followed a bit behind, his eyes raking over their new, alien location in search of anything threatening.

"What is this place?" he asked

"I don't know." All Rey knew was that the waterfall called to her. Something beyond that shimmering sheet of water waited for them.

Drops of moisture hit Rey's skin as soon as she climbed the last step. The waterfall thundered in her ears, almost blocking out her own thoughts. As they both stared into the shallow depths of the pond, she noticed an odd detail. There was no stream branching away into the forest, nor did the maximum depth of the pond seem to exceed a couple feet. No matter how much water poured into the little pond, it never overflowed. This was no natural phenomenon of the forest. The Force had to be connected with everything here.

Slowly, she stepped into the pond, water filling her boots as she waded further and further in. Ben stepped in after her and stopped by her side. Only an arm's length separated the pair from the shower ahead of them.

"There's something there," she breathed.

"I feel it, too."

His expression was unsettled, but he pressed his lips together and gulped. He waited for her to make the first move.

She reached out to him. "Together?"

The warmth of his hand enclosed hers.

Her fingers brushed against the falling water. Each drop fell fast and cool on her skin. Then her whole hand was under the fall, then her entire arm. With closed eyes and a deep breath, they both lunged forward through the curtain of water, Rey's hand outstretched to find the rock wall concealed behind the fall. A chill ran down her spine, though it wasn't the chill of the water that was responsible.

She kept her arm stretched out, but no stone came to meet it. Opening her eyes, her heart almost stopped, and she gasped aloud. The waterfall, the stones, the forest trees: they were all gone.

Rey now found herself in the middle of a wide-open field, grass rippling in a warm wind that swept over her. The sky above her was a smooth gray, but the sounds of distant blaster fire and shouting and mechanical whirs echoed in the distance, disturbing the peace. A cold sweat ran down her back as she sprinted forward towards the commotion.

In only a few moments she had reached the edge of a cliff and looked out into another sea of yellow grass. Only this time she had landed herself on the outskirts of a chaotic battle.

First Order walkers lined one side of the field while the fighters of the Resistance kept a tight formation on the other. In between the monstrous machines raged a firefight, green lasers flashing past red as stormtroopers and Resistance soldiers fought in the flesh. Desperate orders were yelled, screams erupted, and engines roared. But before Rey could take one more step and help her friends, a collective cry of joy rose up among the Resistance. A small shuttle had just touched down behind the wall of soldiers and out jumped Finn and Poe, blasters blazing, and… herself.

This version on Rey was dressed in all white and held what appeared to be Luke's lightsaber, newly repaired and shining a deadly blue. Her hair ran down her back in a short braid, which swung back and forth as she charged the oncoming stormtroopers. One by one they fell victim to her blade while her friends fought bravely beside her. In the span of a few short minutes, the army of troopers was decimated, and foot soldiers and ships alike sped towards the massive gray walkers, Rey leading the pack.

Suddenly, the scene shifted as if someone had switched the channel on a holoscreen with Rey inside. No longer was she watching a massive battle take place in a flat plain, but now stood in the doorway of a lounge. A different Rey, Finn, Poe, and Rose all sat around a metal table, a game of chess in progress between the pilot and the former stormtrooper. Rey and Rose sat by and talked and drank from tall glasses.

But as the scene progressed, Rey noticed something rather odd. Everything seemed to be partially drained of color, as if in the process of turning gray. The lights of the longue shone a dim white instead of yellow and the dull blue of the drinks looked like they should have been a deep sapphire.

"I'll put five credits on Finn," called Rose as she planted a proud kiss on her boyfriend's cheek.

"I'll take that action," replied Rey, smiling wide and sipping from her drink.

"Well, I'm glad someone has finally put their faith in my abilities," joked Poe and he moved a piece across the board. They all laughed merrily as Finn won the round and Poe threw his head in his hands dramatically.

Rey blinked, and this vision winked out of existence as fast as the one before it.

Now she stood in a crowded mechanic's shop. A dozen people of varying sizes and species filled up the small space, which was already chock full of dangling wires and tools and ship parts. She peered out of a nearby window. Dark buildings surrounding the shop scraped a clear blue sky, or what she thought would be a blue sky if it weren't for the decreased saturation. Everything was graying like last time, except the effect had grown even worse.

She dashed to the front of the disorganized line and made it to the counter in time to see the person behind it turn around to face the crowd. It was her again, expect her face was lined with signs of age, her hair in a long, graying ponytail. Even though Rey knew none of this was truly real, she couldn't help but stare in awe at this version of herself. Growing old on Jakku had never seemed like an option, and she never imagined it happening to her.

"Golen, where's the order for Mister Potes? We should have had that set up an hour ago!" this Rey yelled over her shoulder, her voice more raspy. She gave a small smile to the broad, bulbous creature first in line before eying the shelves behind her angrily.

"I've got it right here, don't worry." A tall, deeply tanned older man strolled out behind a metal shelf stacked with miscellaneous parts carrying a repaired cooling unit. Rey watched as her older self regarded the man fondly before turning back to her customer. Even more color began to erode away from the world.

"You really need to start working harder, or else I might have to fire you," Older Rey said through a playful smirk. She took a handful of credits from the customer's hands and passed him his cooling unit.

"That's not going to happen, you like having me around." Golen winked and sauntered back behind the shelves, sparing an extra peak at Older Rey before disappearing completely.

The last thing Rey saw before the scene shifted was Older Rey jokingly shaking her head in mock frustration and biting her lower lip.

Rey recognized this next place immediately. Jakku hadn't changed one bit since Rey had last walked along its sandy dunes. Her old abandoned walker lay down in the distance, still partially buried and desolate. Now everything was black and white, any shred of color gone.

The older version of Rey sat cross-legged in the sand with her long hair, now in a braid, blowing in the dry desert wind. Particles of pale sand trickled through her fingers and flew into the air. The sun was setting in front of them but the colors that usually accompanied it were lost in translation.

"I can't believe I wanted to come back here," she heard her older self mutter. She then stood up and gazed out into the horizon with eyes glazed over and tired. Her shoulders slumped as if the weight of the galaxy pressed down upon her.

The winds whispered sullenly in response.

Being back on Jakku, even in a vision, caused Rey to sweat and shake. Each day consisting of back-breaking labor in order to trade for scraps, each night passing slowly and painfully as loneliness ate at her heart. All of that was behind her now, but in this moment, it awoke fresh in her mind.

If it hadn't been for Finn and BB-8, she never would have escaped this barren wasteland. She never would have joined the Resistance in bringing down the First Order, and she never would have crossed lightsabers with Ben Solo.

She watched as her the older Rey clutched as her chest and continued to stare towards the setting sun. Tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her wrinkled face.

"It's almost as if I've never left," the woman sighed, threading her fingers behind her head. The gray sky turned darker and darker.

Then everything vanished. The Jakku desert blinked out of existence and freezing water flew into her face. Her hand met rough stone as she fumbled forward, stopping herself just in time before smacking her face into the slick wall behind the rushing waterfall.

Ben appeared next to her, slamming into the wall with one hand, the other still grasping Rey's fingers. They both stood still for a number of moments, panting heavily. She unclasped her hand from his, although reluctantly. Feeling his touch calmed her down.

"Did you see something, too?" Rey asked, wiping at her nose and shivering.

"Yes," he breathed. When she met his eyes, his were wide and scared. Pain and regret flowed from his like a dark wave. If what she had seen shook her, whatever the Force had shone him appeared to have done more damage.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

"I know where the _Millennium Falcon_ is," he said. "The Jedi Texts and your staff are there."

"Can we fly it?"

He gave her a sad look. "No. It's destroyed."

Rey's heart fell into her stomach. Han's ship, Chewie's ship, her ship…was truly gone.

"We can still search it, though. Come on, let's take the shuttle." She walked back through the waterfall and out the other side, dripping water onto the hexagonal stones.

Was what she saw her future, her true future? A world with friends and honest work awaited her, but the draining color warned her of something. What that was could be revealed in time.

She had forgotten how colorful the world around her really was. The surrounding evergreen trees blazed a deep green. Even the brown and tan of the forest floor shone with its own beauty. The sky above had turned cloudy, but patches of bright blue still showed.

Ben stepped out of the pond and wrung out his hair, water streaming down his pale skin. Again, Rey found herself staring for much too long.

 **Author's Note:** Thank you all so much for your favorites and follows! Your support means a lot and I love seeing your feedback. The reviews never fail to put a smile on my face!


	8. A Fall and a Lift

Chapter 8

A Fall and a Lift

The walk to the waterfall seemed a lot shorter in comparison to the journey back. Perhaps being wrapped up in a Force-induced trance made the trip faster. Ben didn't speak of the vision he had seen and neither did Rey. It was as if the waterfall and the hexagon stones never even existed, they had just taken a midday stroll through the woods of Nov Sensum.

The vision he had experienced was composed of a series of feelings flooding through his body, accompanied with old memories he worked so hard to keep locked away. Blazing anger, paralyzing fear, regret as heavy as a boulder on his chest. With this came the memories of his Solo and Leia, of Luke and Lando. As these sensations engulfed him, the ruins of a ship faded into view, burnt wires and melted metal twisting into a stormy sky. Even in its wrecked state, Ben recognized it immediately. Han Solo's freighter was finally laid to rest in the barren plains of Nov Sensum. Something in his gut told him that they absolutely needed to go there. For Rey's things, yes, but Ben had accounts he needed to settle as well.

Light shone off the dull black of their shuttle. The thing hadn't taken off in days and a fine coat of dirt and fallen pine needles caked the exterior walls. It looked and felt like more of a home rooted to its spot than a temporary means of transport while they were on the run. He was almost sad to lift off again, to see their week's progress gone.

Ben and Rey stepped into their shuttle and marched towards the cockpit. He shrugged on his doublet, let his hair down, and threw on a dark cloak. With him in the pilot's chair and Rey slouching down beside him, he ignited the engines. Slowly but surely, they lifted into the warm afternoon air and out over the wooded valley. Rey peered out the window in awe, her legs crisscrossed on her chair and her hands on the windows.

"I'll never get tired of green," she whispered, looking over at Ben. Her small grin pulled at his heart. Her excitement over the smaller things left him wishing he could see the galaxy as she could. With curiosity and optimism and unbridled hope.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" she asked.

"I have a feeling," he simply said. "I saw an open field and if we fly east for a while we should reach it."

"I should have guessed." Rey sat back in her seat. She reached up and took her hair out of its half bun and let in all stream down the cushioned headrest. Ben watched out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't think I've told you how nice you look with your hair down."

She ceased mid-motion while trying to fan more of her hair out. A faint blush crept up her neck. "Oh. Thanks."

She paused and said, "You know, I think you should put your hair up more. It suits you."

Now it was Ben's turn to redden. "I'll take that into consideration," he mumbled.

It was another hour before Ben's gut alerted him of their arrival. Down below swathes of graying grass covered the surface of Nov Sensum like an old woven mat. The blanket of pale clouds above their shuttle shifted and swirled ominously. A few trees dotted the landscape but did little to stir the monotony of the region, unlike the huge ridges of light rock that erupted from the ground at random intervals, like the spiked backs of lizards.

"I see it!" Rey cried out and Ben guided their ship down to the grassy ground. Just as he had seen through the waterfall, the collapsed shell of the _Millennium Falcon_ sat scattered and irrevocably broken like the bleached bones of a long dead creature. Even though the old ship would never fly again, a spark of anger still crackled in him at the sight.

The shuttle touched down next to the wreckage with a mechanical groan. No sooner had the landing gear made contact with the grass then Rey leapt from her seat and jumped through the doors. Ben started to follow after her but hesitated, staring at the shipwreck outside. Guilt flooded in as if a dam in his mind had finally cracked and burst.

"Are you coming with me?" Rey had appeared in the doorway. Her fingers drummed on the metal wall nervously.

He nodded slowly and cautiously stepped out of the safety of the shuttle toward the mountain of metal and overturned dirt. The simple task of putting one foot in front of the other was proving more and more difficult the closer they got. Like two magnets repelling each other, every fiber of his being resisted moving towards this relic of his family.

Shards of the _Falcon_ were spread every which way, with the circular cockpit broken off and resting a number of feet from the main body. Noticing this, Rey took off in search of her staff and the Jedi texts. The stomp of her boots against the broken pieces drifted into the distance. A cold wind scraped over them. It was going to snow soon.

When her footsteps faded completely, Ben fell to his knees and stared up into the ruins of his old home.

The old thing had brought him so much pain, represented so much of what he despised about his family. This was the ship that took his parents away, that left him alone with Luke and the other Jedi in training. He gritted his teeth and gazed up into the broken hull of his father's choice craft. Memories drifted from the back of his mind, memories that had been buried and left to rot until they were no more.

…

The first was from so long ago. He couldn't have been more than four years old. He was perched on his father's shoulder, laughing and shrieking with glee as they ran down around the lounge. Leia, her long brown hair tied back, lay across one of the couches, scrolling causally through a set of files on a holoscreen. Every time they passed her Ben saw traces of a smile on her face.

"Han, you're going to make him dizzy!" she cried, but Han only ran faster, making starship sounds with his mouth. It was only when a fixed glare from his wife stopped him in his tracks.

"Aw, honey, you worry too much," he smirked, lifting Ben off his shoulders and onto the floor. He smiled heartily at his son, who let out a garbled giggle. "But see? He's having the time of his life!"

Ben had held out his arms out to be lifted up again, but the doors opened and Lando stepped in, carrying a bottle and three small glasses.

"Anyone up for some chess?" Ben remembered the tall, suave man saying. Han and Leia both greeted him warmly and sat down around the chess table. Ben hopped up onto Leia's lap and watched as the two men had their go at Dejarik. She stroked his hair.

…

Ben's eyes burned, but he didn't want to let the tears out

…

Now he was eleven, playing with wooden action figures in his bunk. Outside the sky was rosy, a picturesque Dantooine sunset. Despite the beauty outside and the distraction of his playthings, he could still hear the muffled voices of his parents from the room across the hall. The air smelled like dust.

"You've seen what he can do, Han, and I think it's best if we let Luke teach him. And he's his uncle, after all, it's not like we're sending him away with complete strangers."

"I just have a bad feeling, is all," replied Han. "I'm just afraid of losing him. He's been quieter than usual. It's not going to be healthy for him."

"You think he's going to be another Vader? He's our son, and I'll be damned if that happens."

After a long, tense pause, Han spoke up.

"Okay. I get it. You want to keep this Jedi thing going. And we could use the free time to keep running things smoothly."

He wanted to run to his parents, to tell them about the evil voice that haunted his dreams each night, the growing sadness and dread. He needed them desperately. But he knew his worries would be met with indifferent pity. Their nights were filled with promises of a happier future for him, but those promises never seemed to hold up. If they didn't want him around, that's how things were going to be.

…

Despite his efforts a couple of tears streamed down his face, falling into his scar and down his neck. Every breath was cold and torturous. A few small snowflakes floated down.

…

A couple months had passed, and Ben was now standing beside his uncle Luke. His long gray robes swept the deep green grass they both stood on and his graying hair and beard shone in the sun. Han and Leia both hugged him close, whispering their well wishes and goodbyes. Other younglings shouted and played in the distance, unaware that they had a new pupil joining their master's ranks. The day was balmy, and his family rained down kind word after kind word. It still wasn't enough. Ben had never felt so alone.

"We'll see you soon, kid," Han laughed, tussling Ben's hair and wrapping his arm around his wife.

Before Ben knew it, the _Millennium Falcon_ rose into the sky, carrying what remained of what he had known his entire life. His parents, Chewie, and his childhood were all leaving him in one fowl swoop. Even though he had his uncle, training in isolation could do nothing but hurt.

He could do nothing but watch the _Falcon_ blast off without him and grow smaller and smaller as it reached the edges of the atmosphere. It took everything he had to hold back a wall of emotion. Luke was watching him closely and he didn't want him to see.

"You ready, Ben?" he asked kindly, gesturing him closer with his mechanical hand. Ben shuffled closer to him and his uncle wrapped his arm around the young boy's shoulders.

"I haven't told my other students about you yet, but they'll be thrilled to have you here," he continued, steering him towards the massive stone temple and low huts that sat quietly in the distance.

…

"Ben? Ben, are you alright?" Rey asked, reappearing with a steel staff and rough wooden books cradled in her arms. Her arms and face were covered in oil and grime. She ran towards him as best as she could. She set her things down onto the grass and knelt in front of him. Her eyes were wide with worry and her face began to tighten with emotion.

"Talk to me." She gently put her hand on his and waited for his response. He jumped at her touch. The tears flowed faster now, but he tried to reassure her. The words choked him. All his guilt and regret fell on top of him at once as if an entire planet had fallen onto his shoulders.

…

Han Solo fell into the depths of Starkiller Base, his last touch lingering on Ben's cheek with the sting of a slap. The lightsaber he had stabbed the old man with hissed and crackled in victory, but he could feel nothing but the regret of his actions swallowing him whole.

He could sense Leia on the main bridge. He prepared to aim a fatal strike, but hesitated as she reached out, pleading for him to stop and reconsider. He did, but it didn't do any good in the end. His troops still blasted her and her comrades into the vacuum of space. She had survived, though. How could that have happened?

He held out his trembling hand to Rey as the embers of the burning throne room drifted down around them. He wanted to create something new with her. Away from the Sith and the Jedi, the Resistance and the First Order. She had no reason to go back to her friends, but at the same time she had every reason to leave him. He failed to realize that and their fight over the lightsaber left his heart even more decimated than if he had just accepted her choice. Everyone who had ever met him deserved to run away from him and escape the fallout.

…

"I'm so sorry," he managed to croak. More snow was falling now, fat white flakes floating delicately through the icy air.

Rey was taken aback at first. She leaned away but then returned to her original position. Her jaw was set in anticipation, and she patiently waited for him to say more. Her hand still rested on his, a lifeline for him.

"For everything," he continued. "I was just so angry and confused I couldn't see a path in front of me and I kept stumbling through everything I've ever done. I've never been able to forgive anyone for anything, even my own family. I've never been so sorry in my life."

Still she remained silent, yet her other hand moved towards his. Her touch felt solid and safe, like the heat from a gentle fire. His breathing turned swallow and desperate, and he pressed his lips together.

"I swear to you, I'll make things right." His voice regained some composure even as more tears fell onto his robe. "For them…" He glanced towards the broken hull of his parent's ship.

"…and for you." He met her eyes, and his heart stopped.

To his surprise, she held back tears of her own, her hands shaking against his own. Even so, a watery smile graced her lips. Every part of her shone with pride.

"I know you will," she breathed, wrapping her fingers under his. Snowflakes stuck in her hair and on her skin and her breath had turned misty. A desert dweller unmoved by the bitter cold around her.

How could someone like him ever deserve someone as beautiful and powerful and as kind as her? But after all the atrocities he had done she was still here. At this moment it was all he could ever ask for.

He leaned forward and hugged her tightly, his chest heaving with sobs.

She stiffened up at first but then returned the hug in full force. Her arms shook, and Ben could feel a tear or two drop onto his shoulder. The snow was falling quickly now, threatened to stick to their bodies if they stayed on the ground for too long.

They stayed still for the longest time. Slowly Ben's tears subsided, and his breaths began to relax and deepen. Rey still hugged back as fiercely as she had before. They both clung to each other as if their very lives depended on it.

Finally, the two separated. The _Falcon_ 's massive, broken frame sunk down as if the structure had let out a deep breath.

Ben nodded shakily, the chilly air licking at his scar. They both stood up as the snow rippled to the ground around them. Quiet fell over the plains as everything became blanketed in white.

Rey stood in front of him, her eyes wet but her lips still showing traces of that smile. Her smaller frame shivered like a thin stalk of grass in the frosty plains air.

"Here," said Ben. He stuck out his arm, offering her the shelter of his cloak.

She crept under his arm, crossing her arms and scrunching down.

"Thank you," she murmured. Red blotches already covered her cheeks, but now their color seemed to deepen.

They watched the crashed _Falcon_ quietly. Snow began to stick to the broken hull and cling to the shattered glass of the cockpit.

This piece of his past had literally died, quite violently, but with it died his blind hate. His parents had neglected him, left him on a strange planet with his uncle to learn things he wasn't ready to learn. What they had done had made him suffer but betraying them and the good they stood for was never the answer. He'd taken things too far. He always had.

Now that the First Order and Snoke were behind him, and now that Rey was beside him, he could begin to make a difference, right here and now.

"Rey, I am going to make a memorial for Han… my father. Will you help me?"

She nodded quietly and stepped out from underneath his cloak.

"Did you see a pair of golden dice in the cockpit?"

She nodded again and bolted back she way she had come initially. While she found the dice, Ben set to work. He started towards the wreckage and grabbed the biggest piece of metal he could lift by hand and a sharp bit of shrapnel. He refrained from using Force abilities. He was going to do this by himself, no outside help.

He set the charred metal sheet aside and found a spot a few yards away from the wreckage. He unclipped his lightsaber and ignited it. The blade that struck down Han Solo was now going to lay him to rest. Ben acknowledged the irony but didn't react. He had a job to do.

He drove the lightsaber down into the ground almost a foot down, then sliced across the ground. Now that a nice divot had been created, he lifted the metal sheet up with a grunt and slid it into the smoking gash. As he expected the debris stayed upright.

Taking his lightsaber, Ben began to carve the metal into a slightly smaller, more headstone-like shape. Once that was finished and he tossed the leftover metal aside, he took the shrapnel and scraped words onto the dull surface:

Han Solo

Smuggler, Husband, Father, Hero

By the time he put the finishing touches on his work Rey returned. A pair of golden dice attached to each other by a fine chain hung from her fingers. He took them from her with the upmost care and gently draped them on top of his metallic headstone.

"It looks really nice," she complemented him.

Ben stood back up and stared at his handiwork. He only hoped that his father could see him now and forgive him. With Snoke and the First Order behind him, and Rey beside him, he finally found the strength to accept his father's actions and move on.

"You did the right thing," Rey whispered. Ben drew in a shaky breath but did not say anything.

"I'm sure he'd be proud." She glanced up at the white sky and sighed. A wisp of steam escaped her lips.

"It really is beautiful here," Ben commented. "I'm glad we could do this here, of all places."

"Imagine if the ship had crashed back on Jakku. We'd have nowhere nice to set this up," said Rey.

Though the occasion was quite somber, Ben couldn't help but smile at her small jest.

"Here, let's go back." He turned around and headed back towards the warmth of the parked shuttle. "You look like you're freezing."

"You'd be correct," she replied. Her shivers had gotten worse and more snowflakes stuck to her hair and robes.

As they both jogged quickly to the shuttle, Ben looked over his shoulder at the fallen freighter. The new fallen snow gave to wrecked ship a clean look, the white covering the black charred areas and leaving behind the dulled silver. The dice on the metal headstone glinted even from this distance.

All of Ben's pain had disappeared as he cut out and carved his father's memorial. For the first time in a long time, he felt at peace. The sensation of it seemed to lighten his steps and relax his muscles. The past was behind him, but killing it was never the solution. One must carry pieces of it along their way in order to truly change for the better.

…

They arrived a short while later back in Vaas Minas. The two suns just began to dip behind the mountains when Ben touched the shuttle down in their usual spot outside the main cluster of houses and buildings. Clusters of villagers huddled around tall pillars of fire, their chatter ringing into the darkening sky. Some of the cliffside homes had lights on in some windows. As always, the weather was balmy and cool. Ben and Rey stepped out of their craft.

Once they had climbed on board she had grabbed the first blanket she could see and parked herself squarely on the bunk in the cabin next to the Jedi texts. That blank still graced her shoulders, even though they were far from the snow and wind of the fallen _Falcon_.

No sooner had they stepped one foot onto the dirt path of Vaas Minas that a flood of Noves came forward to greet them. As always, _bulani_ and _selisa_ popped up in some of the words shouted to the pair of them.

"Our two heroes have arrived," shouted a hoarse voice. Exbi shuffled through the crowd to stand in front of Rey and Ben. His horns still glimmered with the usual pink charms, but his robes were a deep blue. "I expect your journey to the Fall was productive?"

Ben and Rey looked at one another. Even though they had known the old village leader for more than a week, his knowledge of things outside of himself was still sometimes surprising.

"Yes," Ben answered simply. The afternoon had worn his nerves down and he couldn't say more. Rey had been there and that had been enough.

Exbi gave him a knowing look but didn't ask for further details. "Come, both of you. We've prepared a nice dinner for you tonight. No more ration packets from the market if you don't want them."

He turned around and began to walk away, his people moving with him as if drawn by a powerful magnet. The air was filled with laughter and excited conversations in their clipped language. Bright torchlight illuminated their green scales.

The two humans trailed a bit behind. Rey still gripped the ends of her blanket tightly though the evening air felt warm. Ben walked close beside her, the events of the afternoon replaying over and over in his mind's eye. It felt as if time had been cut into two pieces, everything before finding the _Falcon_ and everything after. A new path lay in front of him, but what lay in store for him was still a mystery. He ran a hand through his hair nervously.

That's when he stopped dead in his tracks. A faint humming began to reach his ears, something that sounded far off but grew louder with each passing second. A ship's engine. It was unmistakable.

His heartrate shot up and his hand moved toward his lightsaber. Rey seemed to have heard the noise as well and the muscles in her shoulders tensed.

A tall, dark shape was framed against the pale orange and pink clouds of the sunset. A First Order transport ship, by the looks of it. Anger bubbled up in his chest. Their mind trick on Colonel Penma appeared to have finally worn off. Why were they here now? They should have had more time to hide out. But their present situation suggested otherwise.

The villagers noticed the craft in the sky one by one. Startled shrieks and a chorus of deep yells sprang up. Some villagers sprinted off in random directions to seek shelter while others stood frozen in the middle of the dirt road. The scrape of hooves was almost deafening, Ben and Rey barely managing to stay upright as bodies pushed past them left and right.

"We can fight them, can't we?" Rey asked him, her voice tight with anxiety. "I just need to run and get my staff—"

"You two need to run."

Exbi clambered up to them, panting and thumping the ground with his cane.

"Why? We can help you, we've done it before!" Rey tried to reason.

But the village leader shook his horned head sadly. " _Selisa_ , there are too many of them this time. Take your friend and leave on that shuttle now."

The transport now hovered ominously over Vaas Minas, the roar of its engines deafening now.

"Go to the city planet Urear, I have friends there that will be able to take you in. My people and I will be able to take care of ourselves, don't you worry about that."

Ben lowered his hand from his belt. Rey hesitated to reply but nodded in understanding with a fearful look on her face.

"Take these." Out of his pocket Exbi procured two small crystals. They glimmered softly in the light of the torches around them. He gave one to Ben and the other to Rey. "These are your life. You'll know what to do."

With a pointed look at Ben, Exbi made his way to the rest of his villagers who were huddled in one giant mass under the looming First Order ship.

Ben and Rey broke out into a run. In a matter of moments, they were safe in the cover of the darkening forest. Twigs snapped and pine needles crunched under their boots.

They quickly stumbled into the shuttle and into their seats in the cockpit. Ben's heart hammered from nerves as he punched a number of buttons and lifted carefully into the air. The First Order landed in the middle of the little village. As they raced towards the outer edges of the atmosphere, tiny white dots of stormtroopers spilled out into Vaas Minas.

"Are we doing the right thing?" Rey asked. She ran her fingers along the facets of her crystal.

Ben swallowed his fear down and set coordinates for the city planet of Urear. His own crystal sat on the dashboard. "I think so. We're not actually there so he can't lie. They'll believe him."

"Let's hope we can get to the Resistance in time," she murmured.

Their shuttle now soared through the vacuum of space, tiny stars surrounding them. The blue and green of Nov Sensum grew smaller and more distant behind them.

The ship lurched back as the hyper drive was engaged. The stars melted together, and they shot forward into the great expanse.


	9. A City of Neon and Secrets

Chapter 9

A City of Neon and Secrets

Before long Rey and Ben pulled the shuttle out of hyperspace when the time was right and saw themselves faced with yet another planet to seek refuge on. As the stars swirling around their cockpit flashed to a stop a large, silvery planet zoomed towards them, one half glowing under its yellow sun, the other cloaked in darkness. Within that darkness millions of miniscule lights shown golden and white. At first Rey wasn't too impressed; she'd visited city planets before with Leia and her friends in search of new allies. But as Ben drew them closer and closer to the night-covered surface and the shapes individual of buildings faded in, he could pick out flashes of neon color: hot pinks, electric blues, and rich purples. Strobes, spotlights, and lavish adverts radiated into the clear night sky and Rey couldn't peel her eyes away for a second.

"I'd never see stuff like this back on Jakku. It was always so dark when the sun went down," she muttered to Ben, who carefully steered them through the lines of oncoming traffic. His skin shone under the colors outside, his scar standing out along his face.

"I suppose the people here aren't much of an improvement from Jakku, though," he grumbled.

Rey could see what he was talking about. The people that blurred passed them were either stumbling drunk, scantily clad, breaking out into arguments, or a combination of all three. Smoke from pipes swirled around the crowds moving across bridges and standing by brightly lit shops and stores. Even though the air that filled their cabin was clear, she couldn't help but hold back a cough at the sight of the thick putrid clouds.

"How could Exbi have allies in a place like this?" she wondered aloud. "He looks like he's never left Nov Sensum in his life."

"I don't know, but first we need to find a place to land." His dark eyes scanned desperately for a free landing pad. It seemed that every flat surface was lined with either ships or dense crowds of lifeforms.

Soon they were able to take a spot in front of a rundown bar. Ben flew into the open space just as a speeder full of grans pulled up to take it. They shouted garbled curses out of their windows, their eye stalks flailing wildly. Ben paid no attention and powered down the shuttle so they were free to get up and leave.

The black sky above them was clear but no stars were visible. The city seemed to reside in an empty black void, separate from the rest of the galaxy. Rey almost felt claustrophobic, and she'd been able to squeeze herself inside he broken hulls of ships no problem in the past.

"Hopefully we can find these allies and make contact with the Resistance again." Rey kneaded her crystal in her hands to work off her stress. Finn and Poe and Rose were out there and now was the time to put away any more distractions.

Her biggest distraction pulled his cape around his shoulders and moved quickly towards the back doors of their ship.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

He pointed at the flashing sign of the bar across from them. "We're not going to find any friends waiting in here. And I want a drink. Want to join me?"

Rey hesitated. She'd never had anything more exotic than the nightblossom tea she sometimes drank in her walker back on Jakku. But bars were pretty social places; maybe she could find a Resistance ally waiting in the dim space inside. She set her crystal on the dashboard, grabbed her staff, and set out with Ben.

The outside air she gulped in was stale and unpleasantly warm. Noise surrounded them like transparent walls. The sidewalks were slick, but with what? If only they could have stayed on Nov Sensum with its beautiful forests and friendly inhabitants.

Ben held open the large wooden door for Rey and she stepped inside cautiously. A bith quartet strummed a laid-back kind of tune on a small stage in the back of the large dark room. The central bar was jammed backed with lifeforms of all kinds of species, illuminated by small lanterns hanging from the low ceiling above. The whole place smelled of cheap liquor and dust, as every table and shelf were lined with a thick coat of either one. Despite the crowd, the place gave off a feeling of intense loneliness.

Rey licked her lips and gathered up her courage. Her yellow robes swayed around her as she strode to the bar, displaying more confidence she actually felt. Ben followed her closely, turning in circles as he walked to survey the scene around them.

"One nightblossom tea, please," she called to the bartender, a shorter woman with a shaved head. She nodded and began to shift through the glass and porcelain bottles behind her.

"Interesting choice," Ben muttered. His hand was on his hip, but Rey could tell that his lightsaber was hidden under his cloak, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

"Why is that so strange?"

"You've basically branded yourself as an outsider. Be careful."

It was only now that Rey began to notice the grumbles and clicks of the other patrons around her. The bartender set her steaming mug down with an unfriendly clunk.

"A Swau, make it a double," Ben ordered. A small glass of glowing purple liquid was pushed towards him with a little more kindness. His large hand wrapped around the glass and he downed it in one quick gulp.

Rey raised her eyebrows. "Is this a repeat of last time?" she asked with a small smile as she sipped her tea. Sweet and spicy, just as she remembered.

"It could be if you get a little braver with your beverage choices."

The idea of another drinking contest sounded like fun, but she reconsidered. "But what if something happens and I can't get my brain to respond in time?"

"I guess you're right. We're not among friends anymore." He eyed the quarren sitting on the stool next to him with that steely stare she had seen so much of.

Unfortunately, the quarren noticed this. It shoved its stool away roughly, its tentacles waving in a threatening manner. Its mouth opened, and a strangled gurgle escaped.

Ben threw his arm across Rey, barring her from the angry attacker. He stared straight ahead with his eyes blazing and his lip curling.

"Stay back," he muttered harshly. The quarren screeched at him and its hand drifted toward its belt. Rey saw the metallic flash of a small blaster.

Before Ben could draw his lightsaber, she dipped under his arm and ran at the quarren. She swung her staff towards its ugly with all of her might. If Ben ignited his lightsaber, they could possibly be discovered again.

Their alien foe crumpled to dirty bar floor with a low moan. Its stool caught on the hem of its shirt and fell with a loud clatter. The whole bar quieted down all at once, as if put on mute.

Frustration bubbled up inside of her. "Anyone else want some?" she shouted to the rest of the patrons sitting around them. She kneaded her staff in her hands.

Every head, eye stalk, and lense turned guiltily back to their drinks. The silence had reached a crescendo.

She looked back at Ben, panting slightly. His whole face was slackened with admiration, his mouth open in a silent _o_.

"We should leave," he mumbled, extending his hand to her. She took it without question and they sprinted out the bar and into the smoky night.

Both of them were breathing heavily by the time they reached the safety of their shuttle. They let go of each other, not making eye contact with her.

"So much for lying low and finding friends," Ben said, coughing a bit on the vapors of his downed drink.

"If you had drawn that lightsaber we'd both had been found out," she returned. She eyed the crowds outside warily. It was a miracle no one had reported them already. Spies and traitors stood around every corner on a metropolitan planet like this.

A sharp rapping rang out on the window behind her and she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound. She turned sharply, her staff in hand.

A small girl stood on the other side of the glass, her tiny fist poised to knock again. Her light hair hung in untidy dreads and she only wore rags held together with loose cloth wrappings. Rey stared back, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Rey, ignore her, she's probably just messing with us." Ben told her.

As if in response the girl pulled a leather cord out of the folds of her tunic. A medallion was tied to one end and she held it up so Rey could see.

The symbol of the Resistance shone as clear as day, carefully carved in the center of the metal disk.

Rey gasped and leapt to her feet. She marched out of the shuttle and back into the stuffy city air. The girl nodded in understanding and began to walk slowly towards a dark alley next to the bar they had just fled.

Ben gave her a pained look but didn't protest. He probably knew there was no way of changing her mind and turning back. The little girl disappeared into the shadows of the alley and they both followed quickly after, Ben's cape fluttering behind him. Her staff was still clutched in her hand just in case they met someone unsavory on their way to wherever they were headed.

The dark alley ended abruptly, and they now ran across a wide plaza. Tall yellow lanterns stood at intervals throughout the crowd, their tops cuts like flower petals and spilling out light. They didn't have time to take in the sights, however. Their guide ducked through the mass of people and out the other side while Rey and Ben had to force themselves awkwardly around.

Finally, a small metal door stamped into the side of a lonely row of dimly lit shops appeared in front of them, just a hole in the wall. No one with a brain would be caught dead in this part of town unless they were asking for trouble, but the girl reached up and waved at a tiny glass widow set into the door as she stood on her tiptoes. The door slid open with a rusty scrape and the child skipped inside with her arms swinging gleefully. Rey stepped inside, her heart pounding. Despite the girl's medallion, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Several people dressed in grubby attire circled the room, arms folded and faces harsh. The space they occupied was littered with opens chests and loose articles of clothing as well as dirty plates and wrappers. A few tables and chairs were spread out through the mess, holographic maps glowing green. Rey squinted into the bright overhead lights. The air here was so stale she felt as if she could bite into it.

As if by a silent command the figures surrounding her drew blasters from their belts and aimed their barrels straight at Ben.

"Wait!" she shouted, jumping in front of him with her arms spread out protectively. "He's not with the First Order anymore! He's been helping me!" Some of her hair had come loose from her half bun. She probably looked half insane, which probably didn't help her case.

She saw a few pairs of eyes widen in surprise and a few unsure hands lower their weapons at her words. Ben still glared and bared his teeth but nodded to Rey in thanks.

One woman stepped forward while pocketing her blaster once more. She was tall, only a little shorter than Ben, with long gray hair tucked back in a ponytail. Rey could see the glimmer of three small rings hanging from her right ear. Despite her intimidating appearance she smiled warmly and held out her arms as if to embrace the pair of them.

"Welcome, Jedi and Supreme leader," she trilled, sounding genuinely thrilled, "to our humble Urear hideout. I'm so glad Kala was able to scout you out at Botrop's back there." Crow's feet wrinkled at the edges of her sea green eyes.

"Do any of you know Exbi from Vaas Minas on Nov Sensum?" Rey addressed the room.

"Exbi? That old kook?" A squat young man came towards them, shaking his head playfully. "Of course! A couple of us have stopped by and helped him out from time to time."

"He sent us here to find you. Will you be able to help us? The First Order found us on Nov Sensum and we don't know if they're still on our trail or not," Rey explained.

More and more figures moved forward out of the shadows, exchanging bemused looks.

"Is your shuttle trackable?" the older woman asked.

"No, it's one of my personal escape craft," Ben spoke up. His voice was harsher than Rey had heard in days.

"Then you should be alright. There are stormtroopers walking about some of the time, but we're planning to take care of that sooner or later. After all, that's why we're here!" The woman laughed, slapping her hands on her thighs. She smiled at Rey. "Your friend really knows how to take care of business."

Rey's cheeks burned. He had literally been a lifesaver for the past week.

"Name's Jayne," their host said and held out her gloved hand. Rey took it and shook uncertainly. Her grip was vice-like.

"Please, make yourselves both at home. Take a blaster, any blaster. You'll be needing them soon enough."

"Why?" asked Rey, approaching a large chest and pulling out a large gun. The weight of it felt wrong, so she set it back down gingerly.

"We've been trying to take out the First Order Command that reigns over this part of Urear. Those bastards have most everything under their thumbs at this point," answered the squat man. "Since you're here our plans could go a lot smoother. A couple of Force users ought to do us some good, especially the last Jedi."

His comrades nodded around him, lazily plopping down in the chairs and scrolling through the holomaps. From Rey could see they were schematics of ships and buildings.

Ben scowled but said nothing. Rey understood why, as their hosts had just aimed blasters at his chest minutes before. She put a hand on his shoulder to give reassurance. His posture relaxed, and he turned to her, his expression softening.

One by one the others in the room came up and introduced themselves, though it was hard for Rey to keep them all straight. Names like Lopek, Bids, and Tazine all swirled around in her head. All she really knew was Jayne and Bossen, the squat man.

Once all of the Resistance soldiers finished their conversations and introductions, they all moved to sit down around a large metal table in the center of the cluttered room. Rey and Ben took spots next to one another and waited for what was next, Rey trying to straighten her back and look professional while Ben slouched with his head on his fist. Finally, Jayne pressed a key on the holomap's projector and a large rectangular building etched itself out in green light.

"The First Order has stationed themselves in the Main Square a few miles away. It's a beast of a building with some pretty nasty security measures put in place to keep the galaxy's heroes out." The map zoomed into key rooms that contained weapon detectors, ray shields, and password protected doors. Rey gulped, all too familiar with how the First Order organized themselves. After all, she escaped her restraints on Starkiller Base and snuck around, looking for a method of escape. Luckily Finn, Han, and Chewie had found her.

"Originally we had planned on Bossen and Tazine to disable the machines and get us inside, but with you two things will be so much easier." She pointed over to Rey and Ben with a small smile.

"Once we're inside we need to locate the commander in charge, Captain Cross, and take him out." The building disappeared and the face of a shrew, sickly-looking man flashed into existence. "Once he's out of the picture, the troops will dissolve, and our work here will be done."

"That's it?" Rey asked.

"That's it," Jayne confirmed.

"Once we do this the planet will be safe?"

"As safe as we can make it for now. General Organa and her other troops should be here after we're finished and start some reconstruction with the Urear government."

"Leia will be here?" Rey's heart leapt at the sound of the general's name. Finn, Poe, Rose, and Chewie would also still be with her after the battle over Nov Sensum.

"You got it, sweetheart. Once Captain Cross is history and his band of monsters is disbanded, you will see Leia and your friends again."

Rey found herself shaking with joy. After days and days of hiding in the woods with Ben, she was going to see her friends again! And only one simple mission stood between her and the people she loved like family. She wondered how Finn and Poe would react to seeing her alive and well after having supposedly dying in the crashed _Millennium Falcon_. Their disbelieved expressions had her silently laughing as the meeting concluded.

"Alright, people, let's get some sleep! We've got a big day tomorrow, so be ready to move out when I give the word!" Jayne shouted. Her soldiers slowly slipped into what Rey figured were bedrooms through a large wooden door on the opposite wall from their initial entrance.

"I guess that's that." Ben muttered. He stood up and strode rather quickly to the exit, his fists clenched.

Before Rey could follow him out back to the shuttle, a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Before you go," Jayne asked, her tone now icy, "I wanted to ask you a question."

Rey's little bubble of hope from before popped, and she turned around stiffly.

"Is Kylo Ren really back for good? Can you swear this to me?"

Rey was startled and couldn't answer at first.

"Scum like him are always clawing and pleading their way out of places. I just want to know if you're being as careful as I want you to be. Who knows if he hasn't gotten to you already."

Her green eyes stared daggers, but Rey took a deep breath and faced her.

"Of course he is. He wouldn't be here if he truly wasn't"

It came out a lot harsher than Rey intended, but she supposed it was true.

"That's what I like to hear. You're really something, Jedi." The older woman winked and let Rey go, striding back to join her companions.

"Will you two be ready tomorrow morning?"

"Yes," Rey answered. "We'll give it our all."

With that, she jogged out the door to meet Ben outside. His dark robes and hair practically blended into the surrounding shadows where he stood, only his pale face and scar standing out. He had waited for her and her cheeks burned despite the simplicity of the action.

"Let's get back before anyone recognizes us," he said. His jaw was set.

Rey nodded, and they began their trek back to the shuttle. Her last conversation shook her a bit, but Ben didn't need to hear about it.

The glow of the flowery lanterns greeted them as they walked through the pavilion they had passed through before. The masses of people had dwindled to only a few small gatherings of city goers. The lights changed colors before their eyes, from yellow to sky blue to purple.

A large ball whizzed past Rey's leg. Luckily, she knew what that meant and pulled Ben out of the way just as a hoard of young children clambered past. Cheers and shouts rang up as they sprinted towards the ball at varying speeds, trying to get the first kick at it.

One child lingered behind his peers, a younger Rodian boy with glistening black eyes. Rey could hear his pants from where she stood. The ball bounced between the older kids, excluding him.

Ben seemed to notice this and flicked his index finger. With an unnatural force the ball flew from one kid's foot and soared into the air. The Rodian looked up and caught it haphazardly in his tiny hands. At first the child stood there in stunned silence, but soon smiled widely and called for his companions to chase him. Setting the ball on the ground he kicked it away and ran away from the screaming mob of kids already right on his trail.

Rey smirked. "That was very kind of you," she complimented.

He shrugged pointedly. "Well, of course it was, that's why I did it."

No matter how sarcastic his answers got, they never failed to put the smallest of smiles on her face. "I'm just glad you're here helping people instead of terrorizing the galaxy, that's all."

They stared off into the shifting colors of the lanterns' petals. Even on such a rusty husk of a city planet beauty still found its way through the cracks.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rey saw a grin play on the edges of Ben's lips. The air she breathed suddenly felt lighter in her chest.

…

They made it back to their parked shuttle in one piece. A few stormtroopers ran a patrol nearby, but they slipped away undetected. But that didn't stop Rey from leaping through the cabin doors as quickly as she could.

Ben was sprawled out on the bunk with his hands under his long hair while Rey lay out on the bench opposite him, absentmindedly running her fingers over the cover of one of the Jedi texts. They had been sitting and finishing off the last of a leftover ration packet.

"Are you sure we can trust them?"

Rey stopped chewing and swallowed carefully. "Ben, they're with the Resistance, we can trust them. They're our best shot of getting back with my friends."

She could feel his distaste wafting through the air like a noxious chemical. "I just have a bad feeling about this. They saw you with me in that bar, they should have known I wouldn't hurt you."

"Yes, but you were the Supreme Leader of the First Order. I wouldn't trust you either, in that situation."

He pressed his lips together in that gesture Rey knew too well.

"I know you're scared about this whole thing, but this whole mission will work out. There's a light at the end of the tunnel." She ran her fingers over the lengths of leather straps wrapped around her staff. "We can spar a bit outside somewhere, if that'll help wind you down."

"No, I just need to rest. It's just this nasty feeling I have about all this." He rolled onto his side and said no more. Rey sighed and put her belongings back in the cabinets.

If Jayne's plans succeeded tomorrow morning, this may be one of the last nights they'd be sleeping here. She'd have a new ship to pilot with Chewie, a new place to call home. She would talk and laugh with her friends again. The future looked as bright as the vibrant columns of light blazing outside their window. How Ben fit into all this she would need to wait and see.

As usual, Ben's snores filled the cabin before her head had even hit the pillow. She stared at his broad back, new worries springing up every which way. She still had no idea how he did it.

She was thankful that he saved her life all those days ago, but would Leia or Poe or Finn want to accept the man who had helped divide the galaxy in war? Laying back against her headrest, she pulled her hair out of its half-bun and closed her tired eyes, her mind spinning in tight circles.

 **Author's Note:** Thank you guys so much for your support and patience! Midterms have been kicking my ass, but spring break is finally here and I'll be able to write more on a daily basis. It's been so fun writing for you guys! :)


	10. A Job to Do

Chapter 10

A Job to Do

Ben snored himself awake and found himself staring out the window next to his bunk. The skyscrapers surrounding the shuttle held up the fabric of the grey, cloudy sky like tentpoles.

He missed the clear blue of Nov Sensum. He missed not having to look over his shoulder every other second. They may be out of the clutches of the First Order for now, but that didn't make him feel any safer. Danger lurked behind every shop door and back alley on planets like this, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep Rey and him out of harm's way.

Something about those Resistance fighters got under his skin. Their scout, the little girl, had seen them at the bar. How hadn't she picked up on his attempts to protect her, his arm out to shield her? Nothing he did during that skirmish warranted guns to his chest.

He rolled over to find Rey still asleep, snoring heavily with an arm draped off the side of the bench. Her favorite blue blankets had fallen to the floor during the night and lay in a jumbled heap. She still slept like a scavenger, he noticed fondly.

He got out of bed as quietly as he could and picked the blankets up. Praying that she wouldn't wake up, he floated the covers up into the air with the Force, unfurled them, and floated them gently back down on top of her.

She sniffed and mumbled but didn't fully stir. A small smile formed on his lips as he turned away and headed up to the cockpit to survey the scene outside. He sipped from a mug of cold water in an attempt to wake up his sleepy mind.

They'd have to meet up with Jayne and her gang soon and complete this mission. Rey would finally be reunited with her companions and he would be left alone again. Alone and either on the run from Hux or a prisoner of General Leia and her soldiers. He knew Rey had forgiven him, but anyone else would be happy to punch his one-way ticket out of this life. He could strike up some kind of deal, but any chance of that happening seemed unlikely, even his Rey at his side to defend him. And he didn't want her to get in trouble for his mistakes. Maybe it was best to just leave and let her live her life. He'd been delusional to think that their quiet little life together in their shuttle could last forever.

A high-pitched scream echoed from behind him.

His surprise manifested in a physical force, causing his mug to shatter in his hand, spilling water and porcelain shards all over the floor. Cursing, his stepped over the mess and into the cabin, his eyes searching for any signs of an outside attack.

Rey had bolted upright on the bench, her breaths short and stressed. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she shook horribly. Something in Ben's chest fell at the sight and he rushed over, wiping water off of his doublet and crouching down next to the bed.

"Rey! Are you alright? It's okay, take deep breaths."

He held his hand out and helped time her inhales and exhales. After she calmed down a bit she turned to look at him. Her eyes were wide and practically spinning in their sockets. She wiped her hand over her face as if embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, I had a nightmare," she muttered, her face reddening.

"It's okay. What happened?" he asked, keeping his tone patient as to not frighten her more.

She shook her head slowly and twisted her hands in her sheets. "I can't really remember. Everything felt so… upheaved? Is that the word for it?"

He nodded in understanding. Although he hadn't had his usual bout of night terrors in the week they've been on the run, he still remembered how painful and inescapable they could be in the moment.

He told her what he needed to the told in those moments. "You're not alone in this. If you need to talk about it, please do." His pressed his lips together.

To his surprise she chuckled nervously. "I wish there was something to talk about. I don't remember what exactly happened. It was like this huge rush of feelings I can't really describe." Her hands gesticulated wildly. Then she paused and looked him in the eye. "Do you have dreams like that?"

"All the time," he answered, sitting down on the floor with his legs crossed.

"What does it feel like for you?" she asked.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "Like everything that's ever happened to me is crashing down… like a huge wave." He mimed a moving wave with his hand.

Rey didn't reply but nodded for him to go on.

"Luke's always there, and so are my parents. Snoke, the First Order, you, it's all coming at me, all of my mistakes, and—"

His voice was rising with each word and he managed to stop himself before escalating into a shout. He lifted his hand to his scar and sighed.

"It's okay, Ben." Now it was her turn to comfort him. Her light brown eyes shone with kindness. The early morning light played on her tanned skin and pinpricks of freckles. Her hair was messy, but it added to the unkempt charm she always seemed to have about her.

"You don't need anything else on your plate. I hope you don't have to go through another one of those again," he said to her.

Rey rubbed the back of her neck and the corners of her mouth lifted. "Thank you. If I remember anything later, I'll tell you."

They stayed silent for a moment. The gray light outside turned a few shades lighter as the sun rose higher into the sky. Ben tapped his fingers on the cabin floor.

"Thanks for sharing, too," she added. "It means a lot that you can trust me."

"Of course," Ben said briskly. "Why wouldn't I trust you? We've been in this together and still are."

A real smile graced her lips this time. She shook out her hair and sighed. "I'd never thought I'd say this, but I hope when everything is over we can still see each other. With the First Order gone we can finally have a few moments of peace without them on our heels." She didn't meet his eyes but kept them downcast. Her hands fiddled nervously with her bedsheets.

"Really?" She still wanted to see him even after the First Order eventually burned down. But how? Would the Resistance allow it? His pulse quickened and a blush rose up along his neck and face.

Maybe this was the time to tell her what he meant to say on Nov Sensum, that night in the forest after the dance. If she was willing to stay with him even after this war, maybe she would…

He opened his mouth but a series of loud bangs on the hull outside interrupted him.

"Are you two in there? We have a mission to complete, remember?"

Jayne's husky bark cut through their tender moment, and it took all of Ben's willpower not to launch her away with the Force and fly away from this whole plan.

Rey seemed to have read his mind and gave him a stern look. She then hopped out of bed, tied her hair back into three buns, and slung her staff over her head. Ben took this as his cue to get ready as well and hooked his lightsaber to his belt. The slow blue blink of Joran's tracking beacon caught his eye and he considered slipping it into his pocket just in case his bad feelings turned out not to be in vain. But as he glanced at Rey, he realized why she had thrown herself into this mission wholeheartedly. She knew these people better than him, had worked with them and trusted them with her life. He had no reason to call his friends in.

He sighed and followed her out of the cockpit and into the cooler morning air. Jayne stood with her arms crossed and her legs wide with confidence. The rest of her team stood behind her, faces determined and hands itching over hidden blasters. The lot of them were dressed in gaudy, clean attire. The tourist look they were going for wasn't bad, Ben had to admit that much.

"We're going to take public transit over to the Main Square and infiltrate the building," Bossen explained as they neared a shuttle stop that already had dozens of species congregated by it. "You two walk over as quickly as you can, and we'll meet you over by the western entrance, the one with the black archways. You can't miss it."

"Wait, why can't we—"

But Rey cut him off by grabbing the hem of his cloak and pulling him away towards the busy streets that hummed with speeders and clunky public shuttles. By the time he could look behind him Jayne and her crew had already reached the shuttle stop and were waiting with the rest of the large crowd. He then turned his attention back to Rey, who strode forward with a new aggression.

"It'll be fine," she muttered to him as they passed a pair of muuns laughing and gabbing with each other. "We'll look less suspicious if we don't travel with them."

Again, Ben wanted to desperately to turn the both of them around leave this hunk of metal behind them. But he had to trust her. If anyone knew the Resistance, it was Rey. She was their Last Jedi, after all; whatever she said was probably law to them. So he kept his mouth shut and let her lead the way through the mild daytime crowds toward their destination.

If Urear had been unimpressive even with its hypnotizing lights at night, it looked positively run down now. Broad daylight always had a way of stripping the façade away from even the glossiest of finishes. The whole planet felt like a corrupted copy of Coruscant. The idea was there but the execution fell flat.

After looking at some directories, they took flights upon flights of stone stairs, ascending one level at a time. At least there was cloud cover and sunlight wasn't blazing in their faces. Hopefully they were close to the Main Square, so they could take out this First Order captain and leave.

He heard Rey's astonished gasp before he could see anything clearly but almost echoed the sound she made as they stared up into their destination.

The Main Square was surrounded by white, elegant buildings, a far cry from the dingy husks they climbed up before. Everything was graceful, rounded architecture and sweeping gardens and Ben shook his head at the spectacle of it all. He and Rey looked at one another and nodded, then proceeded forward.

Black arches, Bossen had said, and there they were. The tower behind these fifty-foot arches soared into the gray sky, as white and hewn as a bleached bone. Their captain sat inside somewhere, unaware that a squad of Resistance fighters would make him meet his end. He wondered if he had met the man during a meeting on the _Finalizer_ during his time as Supreme Leader, but it seemed unlikely. And it was easier to kill someone if he had never met them before.

By the time they reached the base of the arches, Jayne's people appeared in front of them, looking absolutely ridiculous in their bright colored clothing. Rey waved them down and they all reconvened.

"Alright, all of us are going to go inside and ask for a tour of the place. Once we're totally past the security we'll, as they say, _take control_ and let you two inside. Sound like a plan?" Jayne eyed Ben with unnecessary intensity, her lip curling. Ben couldn't help but glare back. This woman rubbed him the wrong way, although he couldn't quite put his finger on why that was.

Rey noticed this. "Right! Sounds good." Her voice carried a little more pep than was needed, but that snapped Jayne out of her stare and earned Rey a respectful nod.

"Alright, gang, you know the drill, let's move out!" she crowed, and her men mumbled their agreements. Their soft shoes hammered the pavement, which wasn't a very threatening sound like the usual thud of combat boots. This left Ben and Rey with no choice but to stand around and wait awkwardly.

"They know what they're doing," Rey said with a small huff.

Ben raised his eyebrows. He had gotten her message loud and clear. "I don't doubt that. Whatever happens, I won't get in anyone's way."

"I know that, but—"

"Hey, if someone's got your back, they can count on me, too."

She bit her lip but nodded quickly. A cold morning wind had picked up and pieces of her hair floated on the breeze.

The faint bark of a blaster sounded from inside the First Order headquarters, and they both walked up a set of carved stairs quickly but not running. It seemed that the Resistance fighters had completed their tasks quickly and efficiently. They made it to the tall ornate front doors, which swung in and invited them into the threshold. Two soldiers smirked and nodded at them on their way through.

The interior of the building was just as pristine and orderly as the First Order usually kept their places of work. The glossy black floors of the initial atrium met walls coated with warm grey mosaics. But it was what was on those mosaics that drew his attention.

Blood, and a lot more of it than Ben had expected. Dead stormtroopers lay crumpled on the ground, a lot of them with guns still in their holsters. Some had slid down metal detectors or had fallen onto the small lines of conveyor belts lined up to scan incoming bags. There had to have been twenty bodies at least.

Jayne was wiping blood off of a small, deadly-looking knife when she noticed Rey and Ben coming towards him. She smiled, a little bit too widely in Ben's opinion.

"Nice and easy so far," the old captain mused, throwing a glance over her shoulder at Bossen. He yanked a blaster out of a fallen stormtrooper's stiff hands and wiped some sweat from his brow.

"So glad you could join us! Now let's get moving so we can be ahead when they sound the alarm." He had to shake the gun from his firm grip, sending him clattering ungracefully to the floor.

"Why did you have to kill them like that?" Ben asked suddenly. He and Rey both heard blaster shots outside, and he thought that's all the weaponry they had utilized in breaking in.

"With this?" Jayne flipped the knife over in her red-stained hand. "The bastards deserved it for working for these monsters. A blaster sometimes isn't painful enough."

Stormtroopers had tried to kill him and his guards as he escaped the _Finalizer_. They had raided and pillaged countless planets with innocent civilians, including Vaas Minas. But even so, what she had said felt oddly sinister.

"They don't join willingly." Now Rey spoke up. "They're taken as children and forced to undergo training. Finn told me. How can you know that and still did what you did?"

"To kill the machine, you have to knock out whatever cogs you can." Bossen approached them and shouldered his stolen blaster. Reading Ben and Rey's dark expressions he forced out a chuckle. "Come on, you kids, you don't actually feel bad for these pawns, do you?"

They both kept their mouths shut. Jayne sniffed and waved her men forward to the huge elevator on the other side of the atrium.

"Finn could have been here," he heard Rey mutter under her breath, so the others wouldn't hear. An ugly feeling rose up in his chest and he had to swallow to keep it down. Stormtroopers were in no way innocent, but even so these were people with personalities and ties to other friends.

They stepped onto the elevator with the Resistance fighters. Levels of clean white hallways flashed by them as they ascended into the higher levels. Ben began to feel boxed in, and it wasn't just the physical closeness that brought on this claustrophobia. When he reached out with the Force, the energy exuding from each Resistance member, excluding Rey, was aggressive and harsh. The Resistance prisoners he interrogated never gave off these kinds of signals.

The elevator stopped at the top floor, where a thick metal door greeted them. Only a keypad gave any indication of it being able to open for anyone at all.

"I believe this is where you come in, Supreme Leader," Jayne smiled, waving him forward. Her tone may have seemed playful at first, but Ben could sense how much she despised him through the inflections of her voice. Nonetheless, he stepped forward and unhooked his lightsaber from his belt. He ignited it, letting the hissing red blade spring to life. A few of the soldiers behind him gasped and stepped back and he couldn't help but smirk cruelly. He was glad Rey couldn't see his face.

He stabbed into the door and began to carve an opening. It took a bit of work but eventually a large chunk of door came free and fell with a loud bang. He carefully stepped over the steaming edges of the opening and led the others through.

More stormtroopers waited for them on the other side, but the poor souls weren't able to shout a word of alarm before Jayne's men were bearing down on them. Ben didn't even have time to register what was happening and stayed back. Blaster bolts splintered their white armor while Bossen, Jayne, and Rey charged forward. Rey chose to hit her opponents upside the head, knocking them out rather than killing them. But Jayne never missed a chance to sink the silver of her knife into the neck of any stormtrooper that was unfortunate enough to cross her path.

Once this new wave of troopers was no more, they filed swiftly past the carnage down the hallway of office doors. Rey walked ahead with Jayne, leaving Ben a bit behind the others. He shut off his lightsaber and gritted his teeth as he stepped over the collapsed form of a stormtrooper, his blaster wounds still smoking.

A Resistance soldier accidently hit his shoulder as he brushed past.

"Move it, traitor," he heard the man hiss under his breath.

Ben would've loved to have the man say it to his face and see if he could survive the encounter, but he made a promise to Rey. He had to look out for whoever she was looking out for. Even if that included untrustworthy, trigger-happy dunces.

It took what seemed like an eternity before they reached the end of the hallway. This particular set of double doors were more ornate and impressive than its neighbors. Captain Cross might be sitting just beyond them, lazily shifting through reports and giving out orders to anyone within earshot. Ben had spent plenty of time around officers like these, all bark and no bite.

Rey held out her hand to the locked doors and stood still for a few tense moments. The soldiers around them shifted and clasped their blasters with a new intensity. Ben crossed his arms and waited for Rey to finish unlocking the doors. Only one more step in killing this captain and getting the hell out of here.

An audible clack sounded from the heavy mechanisms on the door and the slid open. Ben was impressed; her skills had improved tenfold since their fight on Starkiller. He just wished that she would look behind her to see the pride on his face.

Shouts and blasterfire rose up as they filled the large office. Cold stone turned to deep red carpet and the dim, overcast light from outside filtered in from wide, clean windows. Stormtroopers ran at them from all sides and tried to defend their position. Some even managed to hit two Resistance fighters and they fell painfully to the ground, clutching at their chests.

Jayne was slashing her knife at trooper with her teeth bared, dodging all around him so he couldn't land a single shot on her. However, Ben saw that a trooper she hadn't counted was sneaking up behind her and taking aim.

His gut moved before his brain and he felt himself throw out his hand. The blast hung in midair, a foot from Jayne's upper back. She tackled her trooper to the ground and planted her blade into the covered neck of her opponent. Once they ceased to move, she stood up and finally noticed the green bolt that Ben held back for her.

"Thank you," she panted, but her eyes avoided his as she moved to regroup with the rest of her men. The stopped laser shot into the wall when Ben made sure no one would be directly in front of it.

"You're welcome," he muttered to himself and searched around for Rey. To his relief he found her knocking out the last of the stormtroopers with her staff at one end of the room. They made eye contact and then focused their attention to the back wall.

A black, geometric desk faced away from the tall windows behind it. On it sat a holopad, still on and glowing, and a set of loose papers that were ripped and scattered. This desk had still been in use when they stormed in. Where was its occupant?

"I give up, I surrender! Just don't shoot!" a timid voice squeaked as in on cue. From under the desk rose a plump, dimpled young man in a black uniform a few sizes too small. His shaking hands were above his head. A dozen blasters pointed in his direction with a series of heartless clicks.

"You're Captain Cross, correct?" Jayne asked him, all of the mirth gone from her voice.

"Yes, what is it you want? Whatever it is, I can meet your demands." Cross squeezed his eyes shut, as if that would protect him from the lasers that would soon slam into him.

Rey walked over to Ben and slid her staff strap over her shoulder. She gave him a worried look but didn't speak but stared ahead at their captive. He breathed through his nose and waited for the inevitable.

"We want you to release control of Urear and every other planet you scum have under your thumb and leave with all of your troops to never be seen again. Does that sound reasonable?" Jayne smiled poisonously. Her earrings glinted in the morning light.

Cross stared around wildly, and his eyes finally rested on Ben. His fat face fell, and he gasped loudly. "Kylo Ren? What are you doing here? They told me you were somewhere on Nov Sensum with your scavenger rat."

Ben shook his head and didn't respond. Rey positively puffed up behind him, but he held out his hand so she wouldn't move forward and do something stupid.

Cross's expression turned even more desperate, sweat beading on his forehead. "Listen, I can see what I can do but I'll have to contact Supreme Leader Hux to make any real progress—"

"You won't be having to do any of that," Jayne simpered. She tossed her knife up into the air with a flourish and caught in by the handle. "We've got a plan of our own, you see, and you're not in it anywhere."

Before Ben or Rey could react in time. A dozen simultaneous blasts rang out, straight into Captain Cross's chest. The man flew backwards into the window, cracking the glass and crumpling into the carpet below. His uniform smoked so profusely it almost looked like it was going to catch on fire.

Ben's jaw dropped. They didn't even want to question the man about the placement of his forces or his links to the other officers in the First Order? All they wanted was bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed, and while he had no true right to judge them, this all seemed wrong.

"You didn't have to do that!" yelled Rey. She jumped in front of the dead man and spread her arms wide as if to shield him fron any more damage. "We could've kept him for questioning, Leia needs all the information she can get."

Jayne's eyes widen in shock, but immediately narrowed in suspicion. "You really wanted this piece of garbage to live while we had the opportunity to wipe him away and make the galaxy a better place?"

"No, that's not what I meant—"

"No, that _is_ what you meant, dear, I can tell." Jayne slid a finger down the blade of her knife while her soldiers shifted threateningly.

Ben stepped closer to his friend and placed his hand on his lightsaber, glaring at the Resistance leader.

"Do you know why my team and I were sent out to this miserable metal wreck of a planet?" Jayne asked.

Bossen smirked menacingly and a few others shook their heads and chuckled as if acknowledging an inside joke.

Ben stood perfectly still, his muscles on edge. Rey's breathing had become quick and shallow, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"It's because we get stuff done." She gestured behind them with her knife to Cross's smoldering corpse. "But Leia didn't really like that, so she told us to keep a lookout on Urear and keep us contained so we wouldn't rightfully try and cleanse the First Order from the galaxy. Apparently, our methods were a little 'distasteful.'" She chuckled and combed her gray ponytail with her fingers.

"This is wrong. You can't just kill these men like this without reason," Rey shouted behind Ben's shoulder.

Jayne sighed and took out her blaster, this time aimed it at Rey. The rest of her men followed suit.

"Has this traitor been filling your head with all these stupid notions? Or are you turning against us all on your own?"

Rey's mouth fell open and Ben ignited his lightsaber. The ragged red blade mirrored the rage that coursed throughout his body.

"Don't you think about it," he snarled. "She's your Last Jedi! She's served with you for weeks! How idiotic can all of you be?"

Bossen laughed from behind his superior officer. "We're not idiots. We can smell a traitor from a mile away. And you…" He gave Ben a look brimming with hatred. "Once First Order, always First Order. You're converting her."

Ben felt a small tap on his shoulder and looked over at Rey, who jerked her head over to the cracked glass of the window. Then she made motion with her hand like the letter _c._ Immediately he understood what she was going for, but could they pull it off? He held out his hand and she grasped it firmly.

"Time for us to clear up another mess," Jayne said brightly and was about to bring her hand down in a signal for them to shoot.

Ben and Rey both jumped backwards, smashing through the already weakened window. They last thing Ben saw before they fell past the edge of the windowsill were Jayne and Bossen's livid expressions. Cold air curled around them like a plastic sheet.

 **Author's Note** **:** We've hit double digits, boy-os! I put this chapter out a bit early in celebration. I cannot thank you all enough for your follows, favs, and reviews! I appreciate every single one of you for stopping by and jumping into this Reylo dumpster with me.


	11. An Exchange of Enemies and Friends

Chapter 11

An Exchange of Enemies and Friends

For a split second, she felt absolutely weightless as they fell from that broken window. The only pressure she could sense was Ben's hand tightly gripping hers. Then the pull of gravity took over and they began to hurtle down to the fatally solid concrete below.

Rey shrieked. Their robes flew up around them and the pit of her stomach dropped alarmingly. The air was icy against her it and it raised goose pimples.

Fighting the urge to remain still and passive in these new sensations, she held out her hand and concentrated with all of her might. She spared a glance over at Ben and found he was doing the same, his eyes squeezed shut and lips moving in a silent prayer.

Their velocity dropped suddenly. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked down at the ground coming slowly closer to them. It was as if they were falling slow motion. She almost cried out joyously, despite their situation.

"There!" Ben shouted, and he pointed to a soft flower bed coming up beneath them. They both held out their hands as if they'd done this a million times and willed themselves through the air towards their target.

Rey's boots met dirt and flowers and she hit the ground running, panting in both exhilaration and newfound anger. The momentum of the fall almost propelled them into a crowd of onlookers, who quickly stepped out of their way with frightened gasps and murmurs.

Now the weight of what had happened before they had jumped hit her full in the face.

"What the hell was any of that?!" she yelled. Ben had started to run, and she followed, shaking with rage and gnashing her teeth. Something inside her felt broken, corrupted. Her world was flipped upside down.

"I knew I had a bad feeling about them," panted Ben, more to himself than to her. His cape fluttered around his ankles and he yanked it off hurriedly, letting it drift to the ground behind them. As Rey looked over her shoulder, she saw a couple of children approach the dropped cloak and snatch it up for themselves. She would have smiled in amusement if bloodcurdling rage hadn't consumed her at the moment. Running it out did help a bit, though, and they continued on their way back to the shuttle.

"They were part of the Resistance! At least they were supposed to be," she muttered bitterly as they shot down a flight of stairs as quickly as their feet could carry them. "We're their allies, we weren't going to betray them or anything, I just didn't like their methods."

What had Jayne said earlier? Even Leia didn't trust them enough to have them stick with the rest of the main Resistance forces. Have Rey known that before, maybe a few red flags would have popped up when they had needed to. But should signs of betrayal be something she looked for when meeting new allies?

"Hold on," said Ben, interrupting her thoughts. He had stopped running and pulled the both of them behind the cover of a wall. Rey could hear a pair of stormtroopers talking just out of view. They waited tensely for a few moments before the clicks of their armor were out of earshot.

She continued as they passed more dingy storefronts and traffic filled streets: "We should be able to have each other's backs in the Resistance. We're all fighting for the same thing, that's why Leia set this whole thing up—"

"That's where you're wrong." Ben peaked cautiously around a corner before waving them on.

"Oh, really? Please tell me why I'm wrong." She grabbed his collar and pushed him against the wall. He gritted his teeth and stared her down even as Rey's fury reached a new peak and she fought hard not to slap him across his face.

"Did you honestly think that everyone in your precious Resistance was a perfect angel that could do no wrong? These are real people with real feelings, Rey. Everyone's fighting for themselves, and they'll do anything to snatch up what they can. If they want dead stormtroopers then that's what they'll work for."

"But—"

"I'm sorry, Rey, but it's how things are, and the later you realize that, the more times you'll find yourself in a world of hurt." His voice softened a degree, but his brown eyes still bore into hers, his gaze as harsh as the words he had just said.

It took a few moments, but she finally unknotted her fist from his collar and stepped away. A wave of shame splashed down over her, and she buried her head in her hands. The blood-slicked tiles of the atrium still flashed across her vision, as did the dozen or so gun barrels that had been aimed at her chest just minutes ago.

A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away dismissively. The chill of the shade they stood in dug into Rey's bare arms as she crossed them over her chest. Ben gave her an empathetic look but said nothing. It still confused her how he could shift from intimidating to comforting in the blink of an eye.

"I'm sorry about. We should get going before they find us,. Maybe we can talk to Leia when we see her again," Rey said briskly, and she began to run again.

They had just cut through the alley beside the bar when a chorus of "Hey!"s erupted to their right.

To Rey's dismay, an entire squad of stormtroopers were standing at alert only a number of yards away from their shuttle. She skidded to a halt and grabbed Ben's hand, dragging them in the direction they just came from. The clatter of boots rumbled close behind them and a couple of blastershots dug into the concrete walls just over their heads.

Ben thrust out his free hand and sent the closer stormtroopers flying into their comrades, creating a huge dog pile that would be difficult for anyone to climb out of. Still, they kept running, Rey's breaths coming out in ragged pants.

Another street packed with pedestrians and small public shuttles appeared in front of them. If they could just find a building to run into and take cover, they should be safe. Rey pulled Ben along behind her, her half bun whipping around as she searched for a suitable hiding spot.

Over the din of the crowds, a high-pitched humming reached her ears. Enemy speeders, the sound was unmistakable.

"We need a ride!" she shouted to her companion, who began to search around them as well. Soon both of their eyes rested on a poison-green speeder, parked nonchalantly on the side of the packed road. The seats were thankfully uncovered by the usual dome of glass and she jumped into the driver's seat, whispering her apologies to the owner while Ben got in beside her.

"Can you get us in the air?" he shouted as four sleek white speeders appeared behind them, piloted by stormtroopers. They hovered in the air like deadly wasps before flying towards them.

"I think I can!" With some effort she popped the control panel open and proceeded to hot wire the controls. While Jakku had been a miserable place to live, she was truly thankful for the mechanical skills she had picked up there over her years as a scavenger.

She whooped with glee as the thing roared to life. Its engine sounded ten times more powerful than her speeder back on Jakku, and she had prized that more than anything she owned.

"You really are amazing, you know that?" Ben said breathlessly.

With all of the emotions churning in her head it took Rey a good couple of seconds to process what he said. "Oh, thanks," she said sheepishly, her face growing hot.

With a glance back at their pursuers, she punched the gas and lifted the speeder into the air at such a steep angle that Ben had to grip the bottom of his seat to stay in. Her stomach dropped once again, but not unpleasantly like before.

"Don't try to kill us before the stormtroopers do!" he yelled to her, but the wind on her ears partially blocked him out. Her body was still burning with hatred for Jayne and her soldiers, but the thrill of flight came close to alleviating some of the pain. But this was no time to let loose. They needed to get out of here before more unwanted attention came their way.

"We've got company!" Ben called over, and sure enough a squad of speeders came up closely behind them. Once she leveled the speeder out he climbed a bit out of his seat and ignited his lightsaber. His jaw was set in concentration.

Shots rang out behind them and Rey steered clear of the green bolts of laser that whizzed by. She let out a surprised yell but got a hold of herself and banked right towards the grove of skyscrapers that grew up into the cloudy sky. More buildings meant more ships to fly through, and she gritted her teeth as she formulated a plan.

More and more shots blazed past, but Ben waved her on.

"Keep going, I'll take care of it." He steadied himself on his seat and managed to deflect a blast off of his lightsaber. His hair whipped around his face and Rey couldn't help but stare at him through the rearview mirror. He looked just as he had in that throne room, all power and cunning.

The bolt that he had bounced off of his lightsaber sank into the engine of one of the enemy speeders, causing an explosion that shook the very air around them. Rey almost had to close her eyes against the impossibly bright blast.

Now they were in the thick of the skyscrapers. Unlike the ship graveyard on Jakku, they didn't have to fly low to throw off their targeting systems. That gave them three dimensions to move around in. She threw the controls down as hard as she could and sent the speeder into a steep dive. Wind filled her lungs until she almost couldn't breathe. Ben clung to his seat for dear life, and she suspected that he was utilizing a bit of Force power to keep him from flying away. Still the stormtroopers flew after them, blaster bolts falling down on them like rain. The vehicles crawling below grew in size as they approached the ground.

"Keep their eyes on you!" Rey yelled over the howling wind as she pulled out of her dive. "I've got an idea, but you may not like it!"

"When have I liked anything?!" he shouted back as a laser zipped inches over his head, but he turned back to their pursuers and positioned his lightsaber once more. The ragged red blade sliced through the air as two more shots were deflected. Another speeder burst into flames and dropped out behind them, falling to the ground far below them. With this new casualty the stormtroopers intensified their fire on Ben, just as Rey had wanted.

A path of slow-moving ships showed up in Rey's lined of sight, and her loose hair flew into her eyes as she turned hard to meet the oncoming traffic. Ben crashed down beside her and turned his lightsaber off. His eyes widened as he realized what she was about to attempt.

"Hang on!" she yelled. There was a sizeable gap between two large shuttles that they could zip straight through. If she could keep the speeder on a straight course, that was. She aimed up and held her breath as if she were diving under water and waited for their speeder to do the rest. The nose of the speeder pointed to the cloudy sky.

One second, two seconds… The two massive hunks of metal were getting closer and closer…

They emerged on the other side, safe and sound. Rey put her hand over her mouth to contain the nervous laugh that threatened to break out. Behind them the enemy speeders tried to avoid a disastrous collision. Two managed to sputter to a stop and move around the line of ships. The other two weren't so lucky, crashing into the bottoms of the hulking shuttles. Their subsequent explosions barely laid a scratch on their hearty exteriors.

Only two more speeders to go. Rey drew in a huge breath and forced their ride to level out and bank towards three identical towers, all organically curved and affixed with decorative bronze rails and ridges. Ben looked towards Rey and nodded in understanding, clipping his lightsaber back to his belt. She would need to count on his other abilities to pull off this next trick.

Taking great care to drive in clean, wide arcs, Rey swooped around the three curved buildings. The speeders shrieked behind them like a pack of ravenous sand monsters. Though the sound of them sent shivers down her spine, she concentrated to close the distance between her and the buildings little by little. Their shots just kept missing, but for how much longer Rey didn't want to find out.

Finally, she managed to trick their attackers into flying at a close proximity to the smooth steel walls of the towers, only a few yards away. Now was their chance to be rid them.

"Can you push them from there?" she asked Ben to confirm her theory.

"Should be a short enough distance," he answered back. Once again turning in his seat, he held on against the outward pull of gravity on their speeder and held out his hand, fingers curled, face tense with determination. After a few painstaking seconds of holding their spiral around the tower, Ben swiped his hand through the air.

One of the speeders slammed into the metallic building, erupting into orange flames. The heat of the blast alighted on the back of Rey's head, the heat was so intense.

Their last pursuer rained down a series of green bolts. Before either Rey or Ben could react in time, a stray beam hit the back of their speeder with such force that it shook the entire flaming green frame. Rey managed to stay in her seat, but Ben's already precarious position caused him to tumble and begin to fall, slowly but surely, over the low door and out into the open air.

"Ben!" she screamed, holding out her hand. He grabbed ahold just in time but had both legs hanging over the side of the car while his other hand gripped the edge of the door for dear life. She pulled out of the spiral and tipped the speeder in the other direction. Ben used this change in gravity to get his footing and drop in heavily beside her, his eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"Thank you," he panted, looking nervously over the door as they flew on. The ground below them was speckled with ships and pedestrians and still very far away. She could see his Adam's apple working as he glanced down at what would have been his final resting place.

More shots rang out behind. Rey snarled and pressed the gas pedal down to the floor, ready for this whole thing to end.

"I wish we had some firepower on this thing," she lamented, slapping the steering wheel in frustration.

"Hold on, I may have an idea. Let them get closer to us, then drop down." He pulled out his lightsaber and waited for her say so.

She nodded curtly, trusting him to get the job done. She eased off the accelerator and the speeder behind them roared closer and closer. She could almost see the serial number printed on the side of the engine from her rearview mirror.

Ten feet, then five. Rey gulped and prayed that this wouldn't result in both parties falling to their untimely deaths. She braked hard and was almost thrown forward into the windshield.

Ben held his lightsaber above his head in both hands. The backward momentum of the speeder allowed him to slash through the bottom of their enemies' vehicle. A long jagged cut sparked before the whole thing blasted apart.

Luckily, they were a good distance from the explosion and only felt traces of heat on their faces. The shrapnel rained down as Rey and Ben watched breathlessly. She pulled into a complete stop to catch her breath, even though she hadn't been physically moving all that much.

"We made it," she sighed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes against the bright gray of the sky. The air up here was cold and brittle, but she didn't have the energy to move them down at the moment.

"We should go back and get the hell out of here before any more decide to chase after us," Ben said, wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"We can tell Leia about Jayne and the others, too." Anger rose in her throat like bile as she turned the speeder around back the way they came. In their desperate chase she almost forgot about Jayne's betrayal and their attempted murder. But now all of that came crashing back, and her knuckles began to turn white on the steering wheel. The sooner they let this all die behind them, the better.

…

Their speeder touched down a quarter mile from their precious shuttle as to not draw to much attention to that area. By that time the clouds had started to swirl and darken and a few tentative drops of rain pittered down. Rey frowned guiltily at the scorch marks chopping up the hideously green paint job and the rain slowly drenching the cab but decided to run off with Ben, knowing full well there was no way to stay behind to salvage or fix the thing.

They rounded the corner of Brixby's and Rey gasped in relief when she found the shuttle still parked as they had left it, now coated in a sheen of water as its passengers were. No one walked around outside now, but sought shelter in the bar and surrounding shops, judging back the indistinguishable chatter floating out from the lit windows. Now it was just a matter of lifting off and finding another place to hide. Hopefully the Resistance would make themselves known to them somehow without trying to kill them like this last go around.

"It looks like you've survived all that after all. I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen again."

The hairs on Rey's neck stood on end and she whipped her whole body around to face that familiar voice.

Jayne emerged from the shade of the alley, her clothes singed and torn and her gloved hands holding a massive blaster that could throw even a Wookie off of its feet. Her gray hair was matted and falling out of its once sleek ponytail. There was no warmth left in her eyes, only a cold hatred, the look many a stormtrooper saw before her knife did its business.

Only the patter of the rain on the cold concrete ground could be heard. They were alone, for better or for worse. Ben moved forward with his lightsaber in his hand, anger blazing from every inch of him. His free arm moved in front of Rey in an attempt to shield her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. This baby's got more firepower than you'll be able to hold back with those fancy powers you got there," Jayne sneered. She shifted the gun in her arms and cocked her head. "I'd use my knife, but I'd rather survive this ordeal than have both of us dead. The boys wouldn't care for that at all."

"Why are you doing this? We were helping you take out the First Order, he's been helping you like I said he would," Rey spat, rage taking over and flowing through her. Her arm shook as she pointed towards her friend. Her skin felt so hot she was surprised the rain hadn't started to sizzle on impact.

"That's what he wants you to think. Open your eyes, kid! Once First Order, always First Order, that's why those stormtroopers got what they deserved. People never change."

She gestured to Ben with an air of cruelty. "And this monster's their leader, do you really think he's on your side? How many times has he pillaged, betrayed, and murdered for the sake of his master, for himself?"

Rey glanced up at the back of Ben's head as he stood protectively in front of her. At Jayne's words he turned back to look at her and they locked eyes.

Orange sparks drifting down. A hand outstretched, shaking and afraid. The softest "Please" she had ever heard in her life. But then he had betrayed her, tried to take Luke's lightsaber and then proceeded to launch a devastating attack against her friends and allies on Crait. The Resistance nearly fell that day thanks to him, but it was a lot more personal than that. He had broken her heart.

Those sparks then turned to soft snow. His arms were around her, his sobs shaking her entire body. The headstone that he had crafted with care and repentance. But it had been different even before the Force had told them to find the _Falcon_. He wasn't doing any of this for himself now. Now it was for his parents, and for…

At this moment she knew that this man would never betray her again. The absolute authority in his stance, the tremble of his bottom lip, the sheer amount of trust and resolve in his dark-eyed gaze. And she cared for him back. In this moment, there was no one else in the galaxy she trusted more than Ben Solo.

"You're wrong."

Jayne's eyes widened in surprise, her confidence wavering.

Rey stepped around Ben and pulled her staff over her head and into her hands.

"People can change, you're just too blind to see that. You underestimate him. And me."

All three of them stood drenched and dripping. Rain was splattering down in a deafening roar off of the metal gutters and roofs. Water slipped down Rey's staff and soaked into the leather straps. Her heart hammered, but she bit down on her tongue. The words were out now, and she felt proud of them.

Jayne snarled and lifted her blaster up, her finger about to squeeze the trigger. "I knew he'd gotten to you somehow."

Suddenly the gun fell to the ground with a large clatter. She seemed to be frozen in place, with her arms locked into the position they were in, her legs still in their stance. She shuddered where she stood, and her eyes moved around wildly, but otherwise didn't move.

Rey looked behind her to see Ben with his fingers splayed and face hardened with fury. Rain twisted itself down his scar. Jayne had fallen victim to the move he had pulled on her on Takodana. Seeing it now sent a shiver down her spine. She remembered feeling her muscles seize and breathing catch and was glad she wasn't Ben's target again.

"We should go. I'll let her go when we lift off," he said calmly, his eyes flickering towards their shuttle.

Rey hesitated a moment and stared into Jayne's statuesque face, emotions bubbling up.

"Rey?" he asked, but she still didn't respond.

Jayne and her team were part of the Resistance, but Rey had never thought that Leia's soldiers could exhibit such cruelty and violence. The hatred radiating from this woman harbored for her enemies seemed… insulting to her. How could people like this be allowed to taint the honor and hard work of her friends?

She wanted to scream, hit this woman across the face with her staff, throw her off the side of a building, but she stood her ground and let the rain slip over her skin, breathing the cool air in and out. It wouldn't be worth it. They were safe, and the best course of action was to leave and continue their journey.

"Leia and the others will know about this," she said simply and stalked back to the shuttle, Ben turning with her and giving her a confused look. She tried not to look back.

…

"You didn't kill her."

"I know."

"Why not? She and her group are a danger to us. They could sell us out to the First Order."

Their shuttle now orbited Urear, the chaos of the day's events all miles and miles below them. Rey was sitting on the padded bench, swaddled in blankets and feet bare. Ben lay across from her with his head held up on his fist as he paged through one of the novels they had purchased in Vaas Minas. The cabin was warm and dry, and Rey relished every breath. She was finally home.

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't think so. You saw what they did to the stormtroopers. I don't think they'll be willing to contact more, even anonymously."

Ben shrugged and threw his book onto a nearby shelf. He met her eyes and gave her a small, proud look, or what Rey thought was proud. The lights of the cabin shone in his eyes, turning them from a darker brown to a lighter shade of russet.

"What?" she asked.

"You should forget about what I said earlier, you did the right thing. No use stooping down to their level." He pushed his body up into a sitting position and adjusted his doublet.

"About…"

"Yes."

Rey dropped her gaze down to her feet. "I suppose you're right. But they were supposed to help us get to Leia and the others, and they tried to kill us instead. I wanted to do something. Something bad, you know?"

"But you didn't. And that's what makes you strong."

He gave her the smallest of smiles. A flutter rose up in her stomach, and she stood up suddenly to expel the feeling.

"Want some milk? I think we might have some cans left," she offered, her voice much too loud. Ben winced at her volume but nodded. She got up and crossed over to the cabinet and picked out two small cans with tabs to remove the lids. Ben stood up to grab one and they were both on their feet, sipping slowly and watching the Urear lights sail by below. There it was again, that feeling of him beside her, like a puzzle piece fitting in just the right spot.

"I just can't believe we almost died today because of the Resistance," Rey lamented as her eyes combed through the surrounding stars, almost wishing that Leia and her friends would fall out of hyperspace and help them deal with all of this.

Ben pressed his lips together and sighed through his nose. "It's so much simpler when one side is good and the other evil. We don't need all of these people in the gray."

Rey couldn't help but chuckle sadly at his words. She set her drink down on the counter next to them. "But without the gray I wouldn't have found you."

They looked at each other. The sight of his now familiar rumpled hair and long face (currently blushing) and broad arms and shoulders brought about a gladness so intense she pulled him into a tight hug.

At first, he hesitated with his arms hovering uncertainly above her, gingerly setting down his can as well. But with a quiet laugh he folded his arms around her and placed his hand on the back of her head. The gesture was enough to turn Rey's legs to jelly.

"What's this for?" he asked, a small laugh playing along his words.

"Thank you for everything," she breathed. "Without you I'd be dead in the _Falcon_ , or shot by stormtroopers, or couldn't do all these amazing things, or—"

Her eyes burned with tears and she pulled him closer to her.

She felt Ben's breath hitch in his chest, but he hugged her tightly. He felt safe and solid like a sun-soaked stone. Like a home that she could go back to time and time again.

This man had betrayed his master for her, saved her life countless times and even offered her a place by his side. As she settled into the warmth of his arms, something clicked into place. Maybe it was the way he held her head in his hand, or maybe it was his mild musk that she breathed in, but she knew then that they could no longer be just friends. She wanted something more.

They stood still for quite some time, neither one of them not daring to break the embrace. Dim stars swirled around their shuttle and Rey relaxed against him, their drinks sitting forgotten on the counter.

 **Author's Note** **:** Sorry I'm a bit late on the upload, I've had a nasty sinus infection the last week and it really messed with my concentration. But the chapter's out now, and I had a lot of fun writing it! As always, thank you for your follows and favs!


	12. A Hive of Scum and Villainy

Chapter 12

A Hive of Scum and Villainy

Another day had passed since the shuttle had begun to hang in orbit around Urear. Another night passing below them in silence, brilliant colored lights rivaling the stars in their intensity. He spared a few minutes of the night before (or what he deemed to be night, he wanted to sleep) to take in the sights before dropping off. They'd spent their time discussing their next destination and sifting through their supplies to see how long they could last without stopping to restock

Now as Rey lay quietly across from him, impatiently flipping through what she told him to be Jedi texts, he worked the crystal Exbi had given them before in his hands.

"We could go back to Raspitar, Leia just made an alliance there," Rey suggested, jaw working as she searched the rune-slathered pages of a particularly rough looking volume. Her brown hair was down and hanging all around her face like wavy strands of grass.

"But will they try to kill us as soon as we land?" he asked, angling his crystal to refract the cabins lights above. They weren't planning so much as sitting back and chiming in when they could.

She leaned back and chewed at the inside of her cheek. "I'm sure it'll work out. I'm just worried we won't be able to find Leia and the others. I'm glad I left Luke's lightsaber with Leia in her ship, who knows what could have happened if I left it on the _Falcon_ …"

Ben paused and gazed into the depths of his crystal. Exbi had given these to them for some reason. A Force-user with predictive powers had to have some sort of plan in place. Soon the pieces began clicking together in his mind's eye. "These are your life," the village leader had told them before they had fled the First Order.

"They're lightsaber crystals," he almost shouted. He leapt to his feet, causing Rey to jump in fright.

"They're what?" she asked confusedly, standing and gazing with him at the clear-cut gem.

"They're what're inside lightsabers. They're probably not kyber, maybe opila. You still have yours, right?"

Rey blinked slowly, then thrust her hand underneath her covers to pull out her crystal. Ben chuckled at her placement. It seemed very scavenger-esque of her.

"What?" she asked incredulously, an impish grin playing across her lips.

"Oh, it's nothing." He held his crystal up next to hers. They were the almost identical size and shape, twinkling in the warm cabin light. "Rey, we could make you a new lightsaber. That way you won't have to keep using those staffs we have stuffed back there. Damn, how could I have been so stupid…"

Her grin faded, and her expression turned anxious. "I don't know, Ben, where could we get the parts? We can't exactly strip the ship."

"I don't know, but getting the crystals is usually the hard part. We just need some basic stuff and we've got what we need." He almost felt giddy thinking about it.

"I could make another one of mine," he wondered aloud, hand caressing his face in thought. He most certainly needed a shave.

"You're right," she breathed. The smile returned as she mulled things over. She kneaded her crystal in her hand. "We just need to find a safe place to go and trade. We still have credits, right?"

He pointed to the small bag on the table, lacking in volume but still containing what they need.

"This could work out!" Rey grabbed ahold of his wrists and shook excitedly. She led in around in tight circles around the cabin. Her entire face was lit up, freckles highlighting the soft roundness of her cheeks. He nodded, hoping his small blush didn't make itself too evident.

"Yes! But we need to decide where to go," he pointed out, turning their conversation back to possible planets they could travel to.

Rey's body went as still as stone as a though seemed to catch her attention. Ben took a step back just in case she needed some space. The gears were turning, her eyes shifting and her mouth working silently. Finally, after a minute of scarily silent deliberation, Rey finally turned back to him. Her face was solemn, and her hands picked nervously at the hem of her robes.

"We need to go back to Jakku."

Ben did a double take, not quite processing what she said. From what she had told him over the past week, her former home took the meaning of the word "nowhere" and amplified it tenfold. Misery and isolation were its only true exports.

"Are you sure?" he asked softly. His hand gently took hers, but she didn't react.

Her eyes met his, adamant yet slightly afraid. "Yes. I know Niima Outpost. If Plutt doesn't give us what we want, I know where his stores are, and we can take things if we need."

Ben opened his mouth but closed it. He needed to choose his next words carefully. With a careful slowness he steered her towards the bench and they both sat down.

"There's more, isn't there?" he asked. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, but she only stared out the window into the stars. "It's okay to tell me."

A moment passed with only the rumble of the life support systems to keep the silence at bay. Rey gulped and looked back up at him.

"I want to show you where I came from," she said quietly. "It's not much, but I want you to know."

"Of course." He nodded slowly and pressed his lips together.

"Come on," he chided, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and guiding her towards the glimmering dashboards of the cockpit. "We'll set the coordinates and get the parts we need and then we'll be back with the Resistance in no time. Don't worry."

"Thank you." The warmth in her voice pulled at his heartstrings.

…

Not long after she entered the coordinates into the computer they were on their way, stars streaking past their windows like speeding drops of rain.

They remained silent for most of the journey. Rey stared out the window as if trying to pick out someone in a crowd. But he brushed his long hair behind his ears and let the quiet wash over them. He didn't want something unsavory to slip out and offend her. This was all about her, after all.

Rey brought the lever down to pull the shuttle out of lightspeed and they were greeted with the same tan, dusty planet that both of them had set foot on the weeks before. Deep ravines and red patches of deserts scarred the cloudless surface below and just looking at it made his mouth dry. Part of him yearned for some water, but sticking with Rey at this moment was more important.

Her eyes smoldered as the shuttle skimmed the stratosphere and dipped lower and lower. Soon the familiar sandy dunes began to sharpen out and small gray huts appeared out of the gritty winds.

"We should see Niima Outpost pretty soon." She reported, though her voice shook slightly. He nodded, still keeping silent.

Soon enough, a fleet of grounded old ships surrounded by stalls and stables and shops materialized after a few more minutes of flying. Ben couldn't help but stare at the display of misshapen huts and dirty tent covers flapping in the dry desert breeze. The last time he was on Jakku it was more wildly different purposes. Last time, he was in a position of power, someone to be feared. Now he was on Jakku as a fugitive who needed to keep himself hidden lest spies spot them and turn them in.

Rey parked the shuttle with a pained grimace outside a large, circular building with an open roof. As they made their way outside she took a staff from the far corner and told him to bring his saber along.

"When have I not had it on me?" he tried to joke while slipping a cowl over his head and shielding his face, but her stern expression shut him down.

"Watch your back, you know how nasty these other scavengers can be," she muttered darkly, opening the back doors and stepping outside. Her robes fluttered out behind her.

No wonder the Resistance hadn't touched this place, it was crawling with the dirtiest people in the galaxy whose loyalty was only worth a few credits.

The heat and sun slammed into Ben like an oncoming speeder. It may not have been the wisest decision to wear his usual all-black attire, but he had nothing else in their cabin. Nov Sensum and Urear had decent weather, and this heat was like a slap to the face. He squinted and held his hand over his eyes, his eyes working desperately to adjust to the light.

A collection of eccentric characters moved all around them. Short hooded men rode huge, flabby beasts along well-worn paths while old women and younger children stood around shaded tables where they seemed to be scrubbing at recovered scrap.

Rey moved past these people as if she didn't know them, but Ben knew she had been at those tables, wiping away the grease and grime and all of it ending up under her fingernails. She had walked those well-worn paths time and time again, hot and thirsty and squinting in the sun. It made him feel incredibly lonely, thinking about her here in this sandy prison.

"Are you coming?" Rey was already ten paces ahead of him and showed no signs of stopping. He hadn't even noticed the scrape of her boots in the dirt. He rushed after her, his cowl bouncing with his steps.

"We can probably find a ride with a Tito, we'll have to pay but at least we won't have to walk to my home, I'm sure my speeder is just scrap at this point…" Her voice dipped sadly. He could tell from her tone that this speeder meant a lot to her.

A mother and young daughter, both clothed in dirty rags, stepped out from the big building, a few ration packs peeking out from the woman's leather bag. The girl held her mother's hand, her little feet dragging through the dirt.

As Ben watched, two taller figures approached the women. Their faces were concealed behind greasy wrappings and large blasters hung from their belts. An uneasy anger broiled up inside him at the sight. He knew what these men were after.

One lunged forward and grabbed ahold of the daughter's arm while the other wrestled with the mother's bag. She cried out angrily and tried to hit the man away, but her assailant shoved her down to the dusty ground and pulled off her bag. Taking the ration packs out, he yelled for the daughter to be released before he and his friend stalked away, splitting their ill-gotten loot between them.

The daughter's cries sounded around the desert as she ran to her mother, who hadn't been able to stand up from where she had fallen.

Before he knew it, Ben's legs had carried him over to the fallen scavenger woman. Making sure his face was covered up, he approached her and extended his hand.

The woman hesitated, her scared breaths catching in her throat. Eventually she took Ben's hand let him lift her off the dusty ground.

"Thank you, stranger," she said in a heavy accent. Her daughter dashed behind the folds of her skirt and hid, one eye peering up at him.

Ben nodded and turned back around, that ugly feeling in his stomach acting up. If there was more he could do without causing a scene, he'd do it. But he needed to catch up with Rey.

She had been watching, her hand reaching back to her staff just in case anything escalated. She gave him a sad, knowing expression, which he returned.

"Don't try anything else that could get us in trouble," she muttered, though her subdued expression betrayed her gratitude for his actions.

They had reached the outskirts of the small outpost in just a few short minutes. A devilish-looking creature in dull metallic armor rode on a great metallic beast. It pulled a cart behind it, skis where wheels would normally be located. Rey ran up to the rider and Ben remained behind, letting her take control of the situation.

She and the little creature spoke in a language he had only just now heard, an elegant string of words. She held up the small bag of credits and the rider nodded and buzzed excitedly, clapping its stubby hands together. Rey nodded back at him and left into the back of the cart. Her robes swirled in the dry air. He signed and climbed in after her, wiping sweat from his forehead. As the son of a princess and a general, he had to admit he was not used to this kind of transportation.

…

A brutally sunny hour later, the Tito arrived at the ruins of an abandoned AT-AT walker, on its side like a long-dead animal and half-buried in its sand dune. They hopped down from the cart and landed ankle-deep in the shifty sand surrounding the structure. After paying a small fee, Rey waved at their guide and he prodded his beast back the way they had come.

"This way," Rey said softly, grabbing Ben's sleeve and directing him towards the belly of the walker. The access panel was sealed shut, but Rey made quick work as she forced the metal handles to turn and unlock the heavy metal door. A rush of scalding air blew his hair back and fluttered the edges of his cowl. He gritted his teeth against the additional heat.

She climbed inside haphazardly, then waved him in when only her arm was visible around the corner. He entered after her, trying not to catch his feet or hood on the edges of the doorframe. The space inside was enough for Rey to stand fully upright in, but Ben was forced to bend down a bit to avoid hitting the ceiling as he took a deep look around Rey's former home.

The first thing that caught his eye was the wall of tallies. Thin scratches were lined in neat little rows, hundreds of carved lines etched into the rusting metal. It didn't take a genius to figure out their function. Some were neat and orderly, other looked rushed, like Rey's tiredness had gotten the better of her some days. The longer he stared the heavier his heart hung in his chest until a lead weight seemed to press down on his lungs. He wrenched his gaze away to take in the rest of her quiet desert life.

A small, handmade doll sat against a rough porcelain vase holding a dead flower. Piles of nuts, bolts, and other scraps piled in a corner of the dingy bedroom. The dirty floor from tracked-in sand. Empty ration packets strewn everywhere.

Rey lay rigidly in a low-hanging hammock, her eyes locked onto the ceiling. He hands crossed over her chest as if shielding her heart. All those long, hot hours stretching into days, those days stretching into months and weeks and years. It twisted him up inside to conceive of it all. But her it was, her home, her space away from the chaos and villainy at work in Niima Outpost. The bald dunes and long distance from civilization guaranteed a safe place to cultivate a life outside of scavenging.

"I'm sorry I've been on edge, it's just not so fun coming back to this place." Rey grabbed a spare wrench from the wall and tossed it onto the ground with a careless clatter. "It reminds me who I really am."

He winced and bit at his lip, staring at the potted plant, now long dead. Long-overdue words welled in the base of his throat. She wasn't just nothing. But how and when could he tell her that without saying something that could ruin their relationship.

"I've waited for my parents here for so long." she said suddenly. He turned his gaze from the plant to the tall wall of endless tallies.

"It was all for nothing." Her voice began to shake, and she held her hands above her head. Ben stepped over the plastic wrappers and sat down next to her, folding his hands together in his lap. He waited for more. Her tone implied she had more to say.

"And I think I knew that, deep down." Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Their heartbreaking shine was even more pronounced in the dim light of the little den. "But I never wanted to admit that to myself, because what else would I possibly have to live for here?"

Her chest heaved with emotion and the tears began to fall down the sides of her face into her hair. It hurt Ben more than he could bear, seeing her this way. But he didn't try to talk or reason with her quite yet, just let her feelings run their course. He placed his hand on hers, sensing the multitude of small scars marking his fingers.

"You know, it means a lot to me. That you wanted to bring me here."

She met his gaze for a moment and gave a shaky smile. "You already know that I've come from nothing. That I'm nothing but scum. This isn't all that much of a surprise, I bet."

Then he decided to take the leap, as he had in the throne room.

"You're much more than that." he stated firmly, taking a breath before continuing. "This place has made you the strong, fearsome warrior woman that kicked my ass all those weeks ago." He blushed as he admitted one of his more devastating losses. But she had been the cause of it, and that should mean something to her.

She let out a watery laugh, which made him smile. She moved one leg over the edge of the hammock, so she could rock herself. "You really don't mean to say that this place could have done me any good, do you?"

"Yes, it has," he reinforced, brushing his hair from his eyes.

She didn't respond but gazed back up at the ceiling. A tense silence unfolded in the warm air between them.

"What would you like to do about all this?"

Rey fixed him with a confused look. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, you said that this Plutt might not give us what we need, so why not raid what he has off the bat?"

She sat up and smoothed her robes over her legs in contemplation. "I guess, but…"

Her face slackened, then broke out into a large, wild grin. Her eyes glimmered not with tears, but with a new energy.

Ben sat back and waited for her idea. "What's going on?" he asked.

"I have an idea, but it's kind of risky…" Looking out into the flat desert outside, she chewed at her lip. "We could, you know, redistribute his wealth in the process. Leave everyone a little bit more well off than I ever was."

His gut lurched against the idea, but he swallowed the feeling down. The shine of her eyes had gotten to him once more. He prided himself on his usually accurate instincts, but for her he'd do away with all of them.

"I'm with you all the way. Let's take this bastard down."

Rey's smile dissipated a bit, leaving a determined smirk behind.

"We should wait until it gets dark out, it'll be cooler, and we can hide ourselves easier."

"You have your crystal, right?"

They both held up their gifts from Exbi.

"The first step of creating a lightsaber is imbuing it with the Force, and if I remember right, we meditate on them to do it."

"Great!" Rey popped up from her hammock and plopped down onto the floor. "Let's get started."

Ben was taken aback. He hadn't met anyone, not even Luke, who considered meditation a frivolous activity to look forward to.

He moved a little bit closer and set his crystal down on the ground and Rey did the same. They looked so strange, such beautiful objects juxtaposing with the grimy walker floor.

"Are you ready for this? It'll take a while," he cautioned, the hot air of the cabin stiffening his lungs and creeping down his shirt. This black outfit really had been a mistake.

"Yes," she said seriously, avoiding his gaze as he pulled his doublet over his head.

Now the pair sat side by side, eyes closed, and legs crossed in a standard meditating pose. Only the sound of the light winds hitting the hull of the walker made themselves apparent, though the rabid beating of Ben's heart against his chest almost rose above the din.

They had held hands, hugged, and in his case thrown an occasional arm over her shoulder. How have things progressed this much in the past week, he couldn't explain. Not that he was complaining: becoming more comfortable with one another was key to sticking together during this whole conflict.

Staying as still as possible, he opened one eye to glance at her one more time. With her hair drifting down her shoulders and her robes spread around her body, she embodied a quiet grace. He closed his eyes hurriedly before she had a chance to find him peeking and turned his focus back to the crystal in front of him.

For a split second he thought he had caught sight of her glancing his way as well.

…

Darkness was gathering outside when something in the air seemed to shift. It was almost as if the crystals on the floor were moving the energy in the room around them.

Ben's undershirt stuck to his chest like glue. The afternoon heat had become more brutal as time went on. He wished he put his hair up before starting. Rey had her trademark look for a practical reason, not just for looks.

Picking his crystal delicately off of the floor, he took a closer look. The thing looked absolutely tiny in his hand. Nothing about the luster or color had changed, but he knew that their lightsaber construction proved to be a success so far.

Rey stirred and plucked her crystal from the ground. "Did we do it?" she asked tiredly, rubbing at her eyes and yawning widely.

"Yes," he breathed, meeting her eyes. Both were drenched in sweat and panting slightly.

"Are you ready to do this?" he asked, holding out his hand.

As was the new normal, she took it and nodded. "Let's steal some stuff."

 **Author's Note:** This chapter's a bit shorter, but I hope that doesn't put a damper on things! I'm so excited to write more and keep the story going for all you wonderful people :)


	13. A Strike Back

Chapter 13

A Strike Back

Luckily the moonlight seeping in through the cold night air kept itself dim. With what they were going to try to attempt they needed all the cover they could get. Any shadow was a blessing in this hopelessly barren planet with almost no plants or tall buildings.

Only the light of a single solar-powered lamp illuminated the walker's quarters as Rey and Ben prepared for their scavenging trip, though it wasn't scavenging in the conventional sense. The "finding workable parts" aspect was still there, but when the owner of said parts was alive and known, that threw a wrench into the definition.

Rey tightened the leather belt around her waist and tossed a patchy cloak over her shoulders, drawing up the hood. It could get chilly in the desert some nights, but she never thought that its use would go beyond the occasional cover from the cold. She picked for staff up and slung it across her back.

"At least it's cooler outside," breathed Ben, pulling his doublet back on and adjusting the hood of his cloak. He stared outside into the clear, cloudless night. His lips pressed together. "When I'm about to do stuff like this, I have soldiers behind me just in case."

"Not so tough without them, huh?" she joked, tying her hair up into a sloppy bun.

"Guess not. You've seen how I am on my own."

"You know I'm just joking, right? You're amazing." Her cheeks turned hot. Thoughts of his brutal swings and powerful stances crept up on her.

He hesitated, giving her an awed glance. "Of course. Thanks," he said shortly. He turned his head back, his long hair rippling around his jaw.

Standing hunched by the door, he looked like a living breathing shadow, broad and dark. For once he seemed to fit in with the rest of the planet's environment. His princely attire and looks blended in with the near darkness, rather than sticking out amongst the shacks and dirt and grime of Niima Outpost. God, why did "princely" pop up in head?

"Don't take out your lightsaber unless you have to," Rey warned him as she switched the lamp off, black enveloping the room She peered outside before leaping out through the door. She sunk down an inch or two into the sand. "We need to be quiet for as long as we can."

A soft thud signaled Ben's arrival behind her. Both of them jogged ahead, the walker sitting silently behind them. Rey could have sworn that its laser turrets gazed after them sadly like the eyes of an animal.

"So, what's the plan?" Ben asked as their cloaks swept up behind them, leaving swathes in the sand.

"Plutt gets his portions and money from offworld traders and he keeps all of it in a wall of drawers behind his desk in that big building you saw. From what I've seen over the years he never stays in the shop during the night and goes to sleep somewhere else nearby. Pretty risky, I'd say, every scavenger here would just love to break in and take everything. But for some reason that doesn't happen. Everyone's too afraid of him."

She forced down the bile rising in her throat just thinking about the grotesque man and how terribly unfair his trading policies were. One day a good roll of wire would be worth two portions, the next day only one half. Whether or not she or the other scavengers starved to death did not matter to him, only the parts and the money that came from them.

"I'm sorry," Ben muttered, placing a hand on the lightsaber attached to his belt.

"It's okay, it's all behind me now."

He fixed her with sad look but turned back and said nothing. The sand mashed under their boots. There was just enough moonlight to see the crests of the dunes, giving the piles of sand a smooth, sculpted look. Rey never ventured out too long at night, so she never had a chance to take in the nighttime sights like now.

"What do you think the colors of our lightsabers will be?" she asked him as they continued their walk.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, then clinched them in thought. "I'm not so sure. Years and years ago there were just the Jedi and the Sith, and the colors fell accordingly. Now, I'm not so sure. I don't even know what we are anymore."

"I guess Luke was right. Everything's different now."

"At least he was right about one thing." She could hear the contempt creep into his voice.

"We're going to stick together through this, right? No matter the color our lightsabers turn out to be?" Her voice trembled slightly, and she winced at her own vulnerability. She didn't know what pushed her to say this. They'd been together for days and trusted each other. She didn't want something as silly as blade color to drive them apart at this point in their relationship.

His face slackened with confusion, then softened. A hand rose up to meet the thin scar running down his face and neck.

"No matter the color," he replied in that smoky voice of his. He smiled at her lightly, sending her heart into palpitations. Sometimes he could just be too much. They continued on.

…

Soon the faint glow of Niima Outpost shone just ahead of them. After the bright neon lights and noisy crowds of Urear, Rey forgot how quiet some places could be during the hours between dusk and dawn. Only the whirs and clunks of far-off machinery pierced the warm silence.

She slid down the side of a sandy hill down to the town below. Chunks of sand skittered in front of her and crumbled to dust as she skidded to a halt at the base of the mound. She desperately wished she still had her speeder, so they wouldn't have to risk getting so much sand in their shoes.

The pair of them trotted through the central market. Few lamps were on and Rey's eyes had trouble adjusting to the changing levels of brightness. Ben followed silently behind her like a prowling animal. It was invigorating, coming back to her cesspool of a home planet and tearing it all down with the man that she was supposed to tear down with it.

The towering mounds of ships surrounded them, grouped towards Plutt's main building like small beasts seeking protection from their mother. The two guards from before stood watch by the entrance, the same men that had stolen from the mother and her child.

"Hello?" a rough voice called out.

Rey nearly let out a scream but slapped her hand over her mouth before any sound to escape and give away their position. Ben's gait turned erratic as his body turned round and round in search of the source.

A woman appeared under the orange glow of a stall lantern. Her hair hung in thick dreads and her rags scraped along the sandy ground. Rey recognized her from earlier as the woman who was attacked by the guards and who Ben helped up from the ground.

She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender and then beckoned them forward. "Please, follow me," she whispered in a thick accent, her dark eyes blazing.

Rey looked back at her friend, who wore an apprehensive expression. But he nodded and they both turned towards the woman, who scurried back the way she had come.

Only one of the huts at the far end of the outpost had light still emitting from its windows, and this was the place their strange guide was leading them. Rey hesitated when the scavenger woman passed through the threadbare curtain blocking the entrance but pressed on into the small building. This woman didn't give off any bad signals and she seemed to have passed Ben's test as well.

The little girl that had accompanied the woman earlier that day sat cross-legged on a pile of dirty blankets. The blankets were surrounded by piles of junk: old engine pieces, sensor antennae, rusted power cells, and power converters littered the floor like sweets wrappers around a hungry child. Belts and toolkits hung from handmade hooks bolted into the support beams of the hut.

The sight brought waves of bitterness down on Rey. She may not have had much in her walker in the desert, but in the main town these people had almost nothing.

"What do you want?" Ben asked harshly. He crossed his arms over his chest and pulled his hood down to reveal his anxious face.

"We want to help you," the woman said, matching his assertive tone. "You're Rey and Kylo Ren, aren't you?"

"Ben," they both corrected at the same time. He gave her a tender look and she had to pinch her arm to keep her mind on the situation at hand.

"Yes, we are. Why did you bring us here?" She made sure to keep her voice even and welcoming.

The woman straightened up. "My name is Lia, and this is my daughter, Peerin. We know you're here to steal from Plutt."

"How did you—" Rey began.

"Rey, you are a legend around here!" Lia threw up her hands and she broke out into a large smile. "You stole his freighter leaving a decimated squad of First Order troopers in your wake. We'd knew you'd have to come back sometime, and it wouldn't be to shake hands and reminisce about the good times you've had here."

Rey's cheeks flushed with gracious embarrassment. Not once since she left Jakku did she think that anyone would remember her name. She looked over her shoulder at Ben. He smirked proudly at her and nodded for her to keep talking with Lia.

"And this man, this evil man, is walking with you like a friend. He helped me when no one else did. Something is shifting in this galaxy, and I want to help it along by helping you two take down that monstrous sack of lard." Lia put her hands on her hips and beamed at them.

Rey didn't know what to say, any help was good help. First Exbi, now Lia. The galaxy was, thankfully, keeping them on course to build their new weapons, however windy and messy that course was. She swallowed down the welling of emotion in her throat.

"We could use some of your parts, if you don't mind us looking around," she tried.

The woman nodded eagerly and swept her hand over the jumbles of scrap around the hut.

"Oh, I have something else for you!" Lia exclaimed, and she dove toward a rather large pile of parts and dug around for a few seconds before standing back up and presenting her findings.

Two flat masks, one a pale yellow and the other a bony white, sat in her outstretched hands. Both had eye openings and leather straps tied into the sides as to secure them around the back of the head.

Ben was clearly taken aback, leaning away from them. Rey peered closer, curiosity grabbing ahold of her.

"To conceal your identities," Lia told them. Rey took the yellow mask while Ben cautiously snagged the white one. "If I could recognize Ben's face, chances are others will, too."

Rey thanked their host and set about digging through the heaps of spare parts. Ben was on his hands and knees, carefully inspecting each piece and either setting it back down or tucking it into the interior pockets of his cloak.

Rey managed to snag an old-looking magnetic ring and a cylinder to act as a container for the power core. She stood back up and inspected her haul while Ben met with her about his findings.

"You two found what you could?" Lia asked quickly.

The two of them nodded.

"Good, now get going! There's a mechanism on the door to Plutt's booth that should be easy to open, but if he catches you the First Order will be down here faster than you can draw that fancy lightsaber of yours."

"Thank you for everything you've done for us," Ben said suddenly. Rey glanced at him in surprise. His words now greatly clashed with his tone from before.

"Just make sure these other poor people get a taste of what's back there, yes?" The woman crossed the room to sit down next to her daughter on the shabby blankets.

"You see, baby? These nice people are going to pay that mean old man and his guards back for what they did to us this afternoon."

Rey's breaths turned to condensation on the inside of the mask. If they had attempted this robbery in the heat of the day, it may have been unbearable. But she was thankful for the additional cover. Maybe the masks could help with intimidation, if things came to that.

She looked over at Ben and her heart skipped a couple of beats. The stark white of his mask sticking out against the black of his hair and robes created a ghostly effect that got under her skin. His deep brown eyes looked like dark pits under the mesh-covered eye holes. Combined with his height and width, he made for a terrifying sight.

"You look absolutely horrifying," she whispered to him as they ducked behind a closed stall adjacent to Plutt's shop.

"You don't look so bad yourself," he returned, amusement playing along his words. "Try looking at yourself in a mirror. If I didn't know who was under there, I'd run away screaming."

"That's oddly comforting," she told him. She could practically feel his sardonic smile radiating from behind his mask.

The guards were still at their posts by the entrance of the building. Rey could hear the crackle of their electric staffs from even twenty feet away. She gripped her own staff tightly in her hands and took a deep, calming breath. Something about robbing her only means of survival didn't sit quite right in her bones. But she shrugged the feeling off and glanced back at Ben before dashing forward. She wasn't the scared scavenger anymore.

Using the Force, she flung a lone wrench across a worktable over on the other side of the narrow road. To her satisfaction the two buffoons took the bait and stepped forward to investigate. Before the guards had time to cry out, Rey dealt them blows to the head that sounded with a resounding crack on the backs of their necks. Their limp bodies thumped into the sand hard enough to kick up a comical ring of dust around them.

As soon as the guards were taken care of Ben moved forward with her and they both crept quickly into the dark recesses of the shop.

No ceiling was built above the main stall and the surrounding worktables. The whole thing was open to the sky, the blue dome closing over the premises. Glittering white stars lined the blackness above them and Rey took a few seconds to look and enjoy the view.

"Are you ready?" Ben asked, interrupting her tiny moment of peace. Though she didn't mind too much. They had a job to do. She nodded and approached the side door with him.

His legs were spread in a steadying stance and he ran a hand over the thick metal lock barring the door. Then he stood back and faced his palm towards the door and closed his eyes. "Let's hope this'll work," he said, and clenched his hand into a fist.

The mechanism in the lock clicked and the whole thing fell to the ground. They both let out a little laugh of relief and Rey gripped the edges of the heavy metal door and pulled, trying to keep the creaks and scraping noises to a minimum.

"I can only push and pull objects," Ben explained as Rey opened their way in. "I guess you opened that door on Urear, I shouldn't be that surprised."

They filed into the stuffy dark room. Oil and gas fumes floated through the air and every inch of available space was filled with scrap and junk, ranging from just bits and pieces to whole engines and power cores. Wires hung like party streamers from the rafters in the ceiling. And she thought her walker had been pretty unpresentable.

Then her eyes landed on a large shape in the far corner of the room. Something shrouded in a large canvas cover. She pulled the fabric off and almost whooped with glee at what she found underneath. "Ben!" she called in an excited whisper. "Come look at this, it's my old speeder!"

It looked just the same as it had when she made her last stop to Niima Outpost. Chipped red paint, dusty grill and stabilizers, worn-out net bolted to the left side. Her heart leapt in her chest seeing it still in one piece. At least Plutt hadn't taken away one thing that brought her happiness here.

"I made this myself!" she cooed, stroking one of the handlebars affectionately. "It's been so long, hasn't it?" She patted the seat like she would pet a friendly animal.

Ben slid his mask up and gave her an impressed smirk. "This is amazing. I was never good at this kind of thing."

Rey fought down the heat rising on her cheeks and trotted over to the wall of drawers that Plutt kept behind him. A small keyhole was fixed in the center of each square and Rey sighed, Forcing the tumblers in the locks to click into place and the little drawers all swung out at the same time.

Credits upon credits shone in each compartment, gleaming in the dim lamplight drifting in from outside the booth. It was more money than Rey had ever seen in one place her entire life and she fought the urge to overturn every table and heap of junk she could find.

For years she and other scavengers suffered, risking their lives to find junk in dangerous places just for a meal that day. And here was their reward for all their hard work, sealed away so no one but their boss could reap the spoils.

"Don't worry," he reassured her, almost having to have read her mind. "We'll give him what he deserves." He scraped the contents of one drawer dry into a burlap sack he had grabbed off a corner table.

Rey nodded stiffly and began to help him out. She snatched up another bag and shoveled piles of credits into its woolen maw. Some of the pieces were chipped and dirty, others were shiny and brand new. It made no difference though, both kinds fell into the bag.

One they had filled up on cash, Rey made her way to the numerous piles of parts that waited for her inspection. Her hands positively itched with excitement. Soon she'd have her very own lightsaber and she could use it to protect her friends and herself. Sifting through the junk, she managed to grab ahold of some raggedy pieces of wiring, a few small power cells that seemed to still be in shape, and a bending lense that reflected the lamplight outside.

"I have some circuits that can modulate the blade," Ben told her. He had been searching through some tool drawers at the other end of the room and he waved her over. She lifted her mask up to better inspect the small round pieces in his gloved hand.

"Thanks." She took them and stuffed them into her cloak pockets. She looked at him. They both stared at one another with loaded expressions.

Then Rey started laughing. The tension and shame and stress she had built up inside herself over the last day melted away like snow in the sunshine. Everything about this was absolutely ridiculous. Here she was, lightyears away from the Resistance, committing petty theft with the evil Supreme Leader while they both wore masks and cloaks like children in costumes. She laughed so hard that tears formed in her eyes and her chest ached, but it all felt so wonderful.

Ben stared blankly, but as Rey giggled louder and louder, a euphoric smile broke out on his scarred face and a deep chuckle rose up from his throat. The sound of it was rich and wonderful, and it filled her up like the sweetest cup of nightblossom tea.

"What are we doing?" she gasped, cradling her ribs. "We're supposed to be fighting a war, not digging around in the garbage!"

Their laughter reverberated around the booth and drifted outside. After a few more moments she realized how loud they were being and struggled to contain herself, panting and wiping at her eyes.

"That's the first time I've heard you laugh," she realized aloud, staring at him in wonder.

He shrugged and tied the end of his bag into a knot. "I've never had a reason to before you."

His words, combined with the soft radiance or his deep brown eyes, brought a heat to Rey's cheeks that almost stung. Her heart raced as her gaze flicked to his lips and then away to the window. She wanted nothing more than to move closer and then…

A dreadful shout cut through the tense quiet like a knife. "What the hell is going on back there?!"

It was Plutt, no doubt about it. Rey pulled her mask down again and leapt to the window of the booth. There he was, all swollen and bulbous as usual, this time dressed in shabby nightwear that could barely contain his massive folds. Two guards stood on either side of him, decked out in wrappings and standing with electric spears at the ready. Any goodwill she had immediately evaporated.

"We have to move," she said seriously. Whipping the cover away from her speeder she waved him towards the door. "Get ready, we'll see if this old thing still works." Once she sat back in the driver's seat her old instincts flooded in as she grabbed the handlebars.

Ben threw open the heavy metal door and climbed on behind her. Rey tried not to think too hard about his hands securing himself around her waist and instead ignited the engine. The speeder roared to life, perhaps for the first time in weeks, and took off through the open doorway, stirring up dust in its wake.

Cool wind seeped through the eye holes in her mask, but she braced herself and drove on. The zoomed out of the shop and towards Plutt and his gang of enforcers.

"What the—" the huge blob managed the shout before he and his guards leapt to the side as Rey and Ben sped past, hovering inches off the ground and travelling fast.

"Go by each building." Ben's voice was low and muffled by his mask in her ear "I'll make sure everyone gets some of the spoils.

Rey obeyed his wishes and made a hard right, driving parallel to the long row of misshapen huts and tents. As each home flashed past like a sandy wind, Ben tossed handfuls and handfuls of credits right outside the doors of each place they passed. Rey glanced back in time to see a few heads poke out of doorways, blinking sleepily until their eyes fell upon the piles of money dropped on their doorsteps. She could have sworn that Lia made an appearance, saluting the two masked figures as they drove by.

Whoops of glee and yells of "Thank you!" echoed behind them, bringing a smile to her concealed face. With her robes flying behind her, the stars smiling down from a clear sky, and the thrill of being behind the controls of her old speeder, she could barely keep from yelling from joy herself.

When she was partnered with the Resistance she was protecting a cause much larger than herself. But here everything felt so personal and rewarding and she didn't know how to interpret this information.

They passed row upon row of shabby shelters, yet by the end of their excursion, a few credits still weighed down in the bottom of the bag.

"Let's head back!" Ben yelled over the grumbles of the engine. She nodded and made a U-turn, heading back to the safety of their shuttle.

"Not so fast! You won't get away with this!" Plutt yelled as they made their swift approach. His guards had helped him to his feet and were now braced for impacts, their staffs crackling blue. Rey gritted her teeth and accelerated, feeling Ben grip her waist more tightly.

He then removed one of his hands and hold it out in front of the both of them. Before her eyes the guards were all keeled over backwards as if suffering simultaneous blows to the head. Plutt had no choice but the stand in the center of his fallen comrades and wait for his two assailants to stop in front of him and approach him.

Rey's fury increased with each sand-crunching step. This was the man who had controlled her life since she was just a small child, who kept her working out in the ship graveyard for the promise of not going hungry.

"Who are you?" he spat, taking a cautious step back. "Whoever you are, I'll report you to the First Order and you'll pay for what you just did!"

Rey stopped in her tracks and bit her tongue angrily, staring up into those beady black eyes. She wanted so desperately to whip off her mask and show him the face of his undoing, one of his former servants.

But with a look back at Ben she knew she couldn't fill that desire. If the First Order got wind of their last location, nowhere in the Outer Rim would be safe. She sighed. Then an idea popped into her head.

" _Bulani_ and _Selisa_ , if you must know" she muttered darkly, and with that she whipped her staff around the back of his flabby neck and he collapsed to the ground with a terrific thud.

She stared down at the unconscious body with her teeth bared. The spell of hate was only broken when Ben gently took her hand and pulled.

"Let's leave this godforsaken place once and for all," he told her.

Rey took one last look around Niima Outpost, at her speder and the shop and her old boss. Then she looked into the face of her new beginning, and he smiled back.

They set about at a quick trot, hand in hand, back to their parked shuttle.


	14. A Seaside Skirmish

Chapter 14

A Seaside Skirmish

The shuttle dropped out of lightspeed with a familiar shudder, shaking the white carved mask that lay on a shelf by Ben's head. Out of the swirling stars a small, round planet of the deepest blue appeared. The tracker of the dashboard blinked its confirmation. This was the place alright. The planet of Mer'in.

"You said they'd be here?" Rey asked from behind Ben's chair, coming up and peering out the window with him. Her hand rested on the back of his seat and he tensed up, staying still so his shoulder wouldn't accidently brush up against her arm.

"The signal lead us here, so I think we're in the right place."

"And they're not with the First Order any longer?"

"They risked their lives to save me. I don't think they could go back even if they wanted to." His stomach curled at what punishments Hux could have in store for his squad of royal guards if they got themselves caught.

Rey nodded in understanding, running her fingers over and around her crude yellow mask.

" _Bulani_ and _Selisa_?" he asked, gesturing to her mask.

Rey blushed and set the thing down on the dash next to the tracker. The names she had given their masked personas back on Jakku still tickled him in a way.

"I don't know, it just popped into my head. It's not like I could go announcing our names for the First Order to hear."

"No, it's just funny to me," he clarified. He grabbed his mask down from its resting place and lifted up in a toast. "To the Sun and Moon," he said.

Rey's eyes twinkled, and a mischievous smile wormed its way across her lips.

"Sun and Moon," she repeated, clinking her yellow mask with his white one. Their smiles both broadened at the silly act. Ben set his mask down where it was before while Rey slid into the co-pilot's seat next to him.

Lower and lower they descended, thick gray clouds wrapping themselves around the shuttle's dark wings. The tracker steadily blinked blue and beeped from time to time. They were getting closer, but to where they had no idea.

At first the massive shapes that sat upon the vast oceans below them appeared to be placed on large islands sticking above the water. However, upon closer inspection, every building stood on thin stone pillars jutting up from the turbulent waves. Complex grids of wooden walkways and piers connected each home and plaza to the one next to it. Scaly flying creatures circled the cities in droves and dozens of small transports zoomed from one stronghold to the other. The whole thing felt ripped out of the past, mashed up with modern tech.

Ben dipped the ship down as the tracker's blinks increased in frequency. The wings of the shuttle dipped below the edges of the water as the skidded towards an open dock jutting out from the rest of the city on stilts. A thick fog drifted just below the wooden slats of the pier, giving the illusion that the whole city was drifting along on a cloud.

The shuttle groaned to a stop above the waves, the back door facing the rest of the open dock. Weak sunlight trickled in through the white streaks of cloud overhead, dancing off the rusted metal of the larger buildings. All in all, it was a beautiful, run-down sort of place. He wouldn't mind hiding out here with Rey with things took a turn for the less favorable.

Ben exited the cockpit and snatched up his new and improved lightsaber. The old body of it was still intact with its cross guards, but the crystal within it was new. He had discarded the broken one that had resided in the saber for so long. He hadn't ignited it quite yet, wanting to see his handiwork in action first. The same had gone for Rey, whose staff lay unperturbed in the corner by her bench. She took a different route with her design, modifying her most recent staff in order to fit the crystal and the parts they had stolen from Jakku. He couldn't wait to see how it would work in combat, but secretly hoped that it wouldn't have to come to that just yet. He pulled on his mask, the brightness outside shrinking down to pinpoints.

The salty sea air fluttered their hair as they stepped out into the open. The crashing waves, the grumble of passing ships, and the cries of the flying creatures made quite the noise, but Ben pressed on and strode down the dock, the wooden slats creaking under the weight of his boots.

Rey trailed behind, her pale yellow robes swirling in the light wind. Her new staff was slung over her back and her mask concealed her face well enough. If he hadn't known her he wouldn't have recognized her easily.

A pair of stormtroopers appeared suddenly in front of him and it took all of his willpower to not stop suspiciously. The troopers eyed them nonchalantly and continued their walk, not bothering to look back.

Ben sighed in relief. It appeared Plutt hadn't warned the First Order of his masked assailants just yet, so they were in the clear. For how much longer, though, he couldn't say.

They had entered a busy plaza, lined with broken-down ocean vessels and strewn with wide fishing nets around the edges. Shouts and general chatter rattled around them. Unlike Urear, the vibe of the town was a lot more personable, as if he could grab a drink with anyone walking around here.

But there was a bit of tension floating around. The troopers that passed them by before now made their rounds through the plaza. The people that bothered to look up shot them nervous or hateful glances.

"Do you know where they are?" she asked with her voice muffled by her mask, her eyes wide and nervous.

Just then a dock-shaking explosion rattled his bones and acrid black smoke billowed into the sky a close distance away. Pedestrians stopped dead in their tracks to take in the incident. Sharp screams of panic and frightened murmurs rose up around them.

"I might have an idea about that," he said, reaching out his hand. She took it and they dashed toward the source of the blast. His new lightsaber clacked against his belt and his cloak whipped around his ankles.

People ran and stumbled away from the commotion, hopping into speeders or public transports and riding away over the waves. Ben and Rey ran in the opposite direction. His breaths were deadened by his mask and he struggled to keep his ears open for any other signs of danger.

"Ben!" Rey hissed as she seized his collar and yanked him behind a massive tub of gutted fish. As they watched from their hiding place a dozen stormtroopers jogged past, white armor beaded with condensation. The smoke had grown denser and it swirled in the air around their marching forms.

"You must realize your attempts to escape are quite futile," a piercing voice rang out over the smoke and the stench of the fish. "Surrender now, and we may not punish you as severely."

Ben's heart skipped a few beats. So, they finally had gotten themselves captured, and just as they were going to ask for their help, no less. Now they were surrounded by First Order troops. All six of them could be harmed or killed if they didn't intervene.

He knew that voice, that simpering, over-achieving bark. Penma had returned to screw things up once again.

"I knew it," Rey snarled when she realized the identity of the adversary. She slipped her staff over her head and gripping it tightly in her hands.

"Hold on, we still need to assess the situation." Ben peeped out from around their hiding spot. The smoke was thick, but he could still make out key shapes and colors.

Joran, Ames, Eloisa, Sestro, Elric, and Sal stood with their backs to one another in the center of a ring of heavily armed troopers. Ben almost didn't recognize them without their bulky black armor. All of them were dressed in bland beige and olive-green outfits in an attempt to throw off attention. Pemna walked along the perimeter of soldiers, hands clasped behind her back and wearing a smug smile. Her black eye had faded. She didn't look worse for wear, and this infuriated Ben.

"We weren't just going to let you terrorize the city," Sal spat, a blaster trembling in his hand. His comrades nodded their agreement.

"I wouldn't pick those exact words, but if you hadn't interfered in our _business_ , none of this would be in this mess." Penma took a long, dramatic moment to adjust her gloves. "You took out a perfectly functional command post, and you should know how unkindly we take to these sorts of acts."

"When I tell you, move in and take out as many as you can," he instructed Rey. He placed a hand on his mask to make sure it wouldn't come loose and then eyed a tarp hanging a series of feet above the circle. On top of the tarp sat ashy logs and other debris from the blast, almost begging to be dropped. Holding out his hand, he willed with all of his might.

Gray ash flew up into the air as the tarp's ropes snapped and threw its payload down onto the surrounding troopers. Chokes and yells of surprise rose up from friend and foe alike and Ben knew this was their chance to move.

Before running out to rescue his friends he ignited his lightsaber in preparation. His heart was already twisted up in anticipation of the end result of the blade.

A luminous purple danced in front of his wide eyes. The plasma itself wasn't raggedy and volatile like his former weapon, but stable and uniform. He smiled and gave a small laugh of relief. Things really had changed.

Then he was sprinting towards the stormtroopers, saber hiked in attack mode above his head. Rey's footsteps pounded behind him and the hiss of her blue dual blades came to life.

"Watch out!" a trooper shouted in alarm, but that's all he was able to say before Ben's lightsaber slashed across the armor on his chest and sent him tumbling to the ground.

Rey sunk one of her blades into the leg of another enemy and caught a laser blast of the edge of her other just a second later. Her robes surrounded her like a sandstorm as she whipped her staff around in deadly arcs. A couple of the troopers even took a couple of steps back in awe at the sight of her. Ben couldn't have been prouder.

The dead trooper's blaster had skidded across the ground and Ben ran over to pick it up. He eyed Joran and tossed the weapon through the air to him.

The older man caught the gun and fixed him with a look of utter confusion. The other guards looked to their commander, then moved out simultaneously, taking down unsuspecting troopers with swift kicks of punches and taking their blasters.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Penma shrieked over the din of the fight. She had squatted down to take cover under a large wooden sign advertising a hotel and two stormtroopers stood beside her, weapons at the ready. "Get those masked buffoons and finish them already!"

A few pedestrians appeared around the corners of the plaza, looks of horror spreading across their faces as Ben was locked in combat with a stormtrooper armed with an electric baton. His blade met the business end of his enemy's weapon, but instead of slicing clean through, it simply clashed against it in a shower of bright sparks. The dead eyes of the helmet met his and Ben hissed with exertion.

He managed to push up and shove the man away, but not before the baton was knocked out of his assailant's hand and went flying towards a young couple watching from afar. Their shrieks cut through the chaos around him.

A flurry of panic rose up in Ben's chest. These people had nothing to do with what was going on, no one them should get hurt if he had any say in the matter. He threw out his hand and gritted his teeth under his mask. The baton froze in midair, hissing and spitting just a foot from their terrified faces, then feel straight to the ground.

The couple gave him a relieved look before sprinting away from the fight. Ben gave them a small smile they couldn't see before rushing back to help out his friends.

Sestro and Elric stood back to back, blasters leveled at the ring of troopers around them. Ben knocked two of them down and joined his comrades in the center of the circle. He blocked a couple of the troopers' blasts before running forward and dismantling them quickly with his new lightsaber.

"What the—" he heard Sestro begin but he didn't stick around for the rest. Ames and Eloisa were backed against a rough steel wall and Ben sprinted towards them, slashing their attackers down with a yell.

Eloisa brushed her dark hair out of her eyes and stared blankly at Ben. "Thank you," she muttered, shouldering her stolen blaster.

Ben nodded but said nothing. A flash of blue in his peripheral alerted him to Rey's position. There she was, twenty feet away and blocking shots from Pemna and her bodyguards.

"Why don't you just die?!" Penma screamed, sending shot after shot in Rey's direction. She silently advanced, each bolt ricocheting into the walls and signs surrounding them. Ben had to admit that with her mask she looked utterly terrifying.

Out of the blue Sal and Joran rushed the two bodyguards and tackled them into the ground. Rey took the chance to run forward and Force push the colonel against the wooden sign she was crouching behind. Her small pistol rolled from her hand and Joran kicked it away as Rey aimed one of her blue lightsaber blades down at her head.

"Thank you," Sal said breathlessly. Rey nodded but didn't reply, inching her staff closer to the woman's throat so she wouldn't dare run away. Ben looked around to find stormtrooper after stormtrooper falling at the hands of his guards. Sestro and Eloisa worked flawlessly as a team and slammed two troopers' heads into the hard brick wall they found themselves next to. Ames had grabbed a fishing net up from the wooden planks and threw it onto an oncoming enemy, tripping him up and pulling him down. Elric had knocked out two soldiers with the butt of his gun on his own.

They needed to leave now. The shuttle could hold all of them, right?

"This way!" he barked at the top of his lungs. Hurdling over the unconscious form of a trooper he sprinted towards a back ally at ran parallel with the path he and Rey had taken to arrive here. The six guards looked up with panicked expressions, but they nodded towards each other and followed after, keeping their blasters ready.

Rey came soon after, huffing and puffing and watching their six. Penma still crouched behind the sign but signaled her soldiers to pursue them.

Laser blasts and muffled shouts of indignant hate echoed behind them and the brick walls around them burst apart in the onslaught of red bolts. Eloisa cried out, but they all kept moving.

Ben kept his lightsaber ignited, the purple of the plasma shining off the metallic trash cans and electrical boxes lining the alley.

"While we're here running for our lives, some one of you please tell me what's going on?!" Eloisa shouted from the middle of the pack. Part of her outfit was singed from missed laser blasts.

"All you need to know is that Selisa and I are trying to get you out of here!" Ben yelled back. They skidded around a corner and emerged out into the open dock where they needed to be. Fishermen, pilots, and citizens just out for a stroll alike scrambled out of their way, some throwing out curses while others shrieked as their boots beat against the wooden planks.

"Behind us!" Rey called over to him. He glanced over his shoulder and swore under his breath.

A new swarm of stormtroopers were being escorted by two black-clad officers, sending blasts into the crowd of pedestrians. Cries of fear rang out, people ducking behind bins of fish while other sprinted towards their ships parked along the dock. The blasts cratered the wooden dock, smoke rising up from the smoldering floor. The air rocked with the shudder of engines and the thrum of sprinting feet.

"They're going to kill everyone here!" Rey bellowed. She stopped in her tracks and ran towards the incoming hoard of First Order. Her dual blades pulsed and glowed as she readied herself to fight and her teeth were bared in a scarily animalistic way.

Ben skidded to a stop to help her, but his guards stopped, too. They readied their blasters as Ben held up his lightsaber.

"We can take care of ourselves!" Ames yelled to him and her comrades nodded. They aimed and fired at the crowd of stormtroopers, dropping a couple to the ground in a matter of seconds. Ben charged ahead and lowered his lightsaber, ready to swipe up at the first piece of white armor he came into contact with. There was one now, one of the troopers leading the pack. He raised his blaster so that Ben could look straight down the barrel.

He never got a chance to hit him. A blue bolt caught the stormtrooper in the helmet and sent him sprawling on the dock. Ben looked around in surprise to see where the blast had come from.

A tall klatooinian man stood a number of feet away, his small rust blaster smoking in his huge paw. He gave Ben a curt nod and aimed again, this time taking out another trooper with a blast to their sternum.

Another blast joined his fire. A small, meek twi'lek woman ran forward, her manicured hands clutching a large blaster. She waved at the rest of the cowering crowd and gave shouts of encouragement that Ben couldn't understand, but a surge of shouts and cheers sounded up into the salty sea air.

Now more and more people stepped forward to help, unholstering blaster or picking up whatever tools or weapons they could find. Some of the bigger, hardier dock workers came at the troopers with harpoons and nets. Crowbars somersaulted through the air and collided with helmets. People wrestled soldiers to the ground.

Ben couldn't help but stand back in awe, his lightsaber dangling uselessly in his hand. The crowd's collective anger had burst like a dam and firing into a mass of innocents seemed to be the last straw. The whole scene was so glorious in its own way.

But he couldn't just stand there and let things happen around him. He joined in the fight, slashing and hacking any sign of white armor. Rey found him amongst the crowd and slammed her back against his. The chaos swirled around their bodies as they protected one another, and with the heat of her on him a bizarre wave of peace fell over him, as if everything in the galaxy had lined up so perfectly.

Soon most of the stormtroopers were down, fallen at the hands of the citizens they've overseen for who knows how long. The rest of the troops had run back the other way, their arms over their heads as laser blasts sailed past them and punched holes in the brick of the alleyway. Rey and Ben separated, breathing hard and gazing at one another. She held a hand over her upper arm and hissed in pain.

His blood ran cold. "Are you alright?" he asked, gently taking her arm and inspecting the damage. A cauterized cut ran above her arm wrappings.

"I'll be alright," she breathed, looking up at him. Though he couldn't see her mouth behind her mask, he could tell she was smirking at him with her eyes. "It's just annoying that I'm the one getting hurt and not you." She ran a finger up the arm that had been broken when their journey had began.

Impulse took over and he leaned his head forward, pressed the forehead of his mask against her own. Although their skin wasn't touching, and it only lasted for just a moment, the act still carried the same intimacy. "You sure you'll be alright?" he asked again.

Rey snickered quietly. "Believe me, I've been through a lot worse."

In his moment with her, Ben hadn't realized how quiet the crowd around them had become. Only the shifted of feet on creaky wooden boards disturbed the near silence. His squad of guards still stood protectively against one another and waited for Rey and Ben's next move.

Rey stepped forward to address the crowd.

"Thank you all so much for your help! The next time the First Order threatens you, tell them that Bulani and Selisa are on your side!" She raised her staff above her head.

The cheers that followed her words were deafening. Some of the fishermen fired their blasters into the air in celebration. Even the squad of guards clapped and cheered along.

Ben turned off his lightsaber and gazed at Rey. Sunlight alighted on her yellow robes until she seemed to blend into the brilliance. His heart swelled at the sight of her. She was scrappy and hungry and powerful. She was beauty and grace and light.

He was in love with all of her.

She turned back to him and nodded. "I think it's time to go," she murmured. For a second, he stood dumbfounded but soon regained his wits. They turned heel and quickly headed back in the direction of their ship before anyone else from the First Order could come in and start the whole fight over again.

He waved to his guards and they trailed after them, dropping their ill-gotten blasters along the length of the dock. Soon they reached the familiar black hull and folded wings over the escape shuttle, pocked with sea salt from the evaporated ocean water. The crowd cheered them until they climbed aboard and lifted off above the crashing waves.

"Can someone tell me what this whole thing is about?" Sestro wondered aloud.

…

It had taken some work to crowd everyone into the cramped cabin space, but the guards had found spots for themselves along the padded bench and on top of the countertops.

Ben and Rey had revealed their true identities to the guards, much to their anticlimactic non-surprise.

"I'd recognize that lightsaber from lightyears away," Edric chuckled, gesturing to the weapon clipped to Ben's belt. "I do like the change in color, doesn't look quite as evil."

"How'd you stay alive this entire time?" Sestro asked them incredulously, slapping Ben across the back. Their former Supreme Leader recoiled at his touch but didn't actively shoo him away.

"I sure helped a bit," Rey interjected. She had slipped her mask off and lowered her hood, her hair messy and frizzy. "Without me he'd been dead long ago. But I guess it's true the other way, too."

"Well, we're all back together again." Ames wound her finger around a strand of her hair. The other guards snapped to attention at her words. "Now what?"

"We need your help," Ben admitted. He unhooked his cloak and dropped it onto an open shelf. He turned to face Joran in particular. "Rey needs to get back to the Resistance, but we've been busy fending for ourselves out here. Any idea where they could be hiding?"

Joran rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Sal and Edric traded meaningful glances.

"To be honest, Ren—I mean Ben—we've been keeping ourselves out of everyone's hands, not just the First Order. None of us have been paying attention all that well."

Rey nodded solemnly and straightened up. "That's fine," she said quickly, giving Ben a tender look, "we'll just have to go around and look where we can."

Ben unintentionally stepped back in surprise. She had expressed her desire to return to her friends fervently. But that look… He bit his lip and suppressed the pounding his heart had begun to take up.

"First things first, we need a bigger ship if we're going to be traveling together. We have enough credits to get something cheap," Ames pointed out. As if on cue she smacked her elbow on the corner of a counter and let of a hiss of pain.

"You know, that whole crazy vigilante stunt you two pulled back there… I must admit I was pretty impressed." Sestro smirked at Rey and Ben, folding his broad arms over his chest. "Where'd you find this girl? She's incredible."

Rey met his eyes and blushed profusely. "From nowhere," she answered quietly, but a new confidence edged out her tone. Ben's chest lit up with affection.

"You're from nowhere?" Eloisa scoffed with a smile. "I'm from Gara, the lowest of the low. You have to be wallowing in garbage to surpass me."

"Really?" Rey raised her eyebrows and took a seat next to the other young woman. "Well, I've got stories for you…"

Ben left for the cockpit while Rey, Eloisa, and the others gathered around in a circle like children around a campfire. Soon loud guffaws and gasps sounded behind in from the open doorway. Though he stared out into the swirling stars pensively, Rey's wild hand gestures and radiant smile took up his mind's eye. A smirk lifted the corners of his mouth.

"Mind if I join you?" a gruff voice asked. Joran stepped through the doorway and sat down heavily in the co-pilot's seat with a sigh. Ben didn't respond, still wrapped up in his thoughts of the woman in the next room.

"Eloisa really seems to like her," the older man observed. "Everyone's really latched onto her."

Ben nodded. "She's incredible," he breathed.

"Are you two together?"

Embarrassment as cold and sudden as a splash of cold water rushed over Ben. He turned to Joran.

"What? No, we're not," he stammered. Damn, his voice sounded an octave too high.

"Really? I would have thought so, the way you two look and act around each other. Like two nervous schoolkids." Joran twiddled his thumbs and Ben could have sworn that the old man was hiding a sneaky smirk.

Ben said nothing but stewed in his own embarrassment. The back-to-back fighting, the forehead touch, the gentle looks. If they were in fact just friends, why did those things stir up his heart just reflecting back on them.

"Well, if you haven't told her how you feel yet, you should." Joran inched out of his seat and put a hand on Ben's shoulder. His blue eyes bore into Ben's brown ones. "You don't meet a woman like that every day. Take the chance while you still can."

He disappeared out the cockpit door, leaving Ben to let his words sink in.

He knew he'd been a coward. Fighting and training were so easy for him but gathering the courage to confess to Rey had apparently been too much. But she was still here with him, joking and training and connecting with him. His fear was only a lie. He had the strength to confess to her, and whatever will happen will happen.

Rey's sweet laugh echoed from the cabin. The sound of it cut through his muddled, confused thoughts like a shaft of sunlight. He sucked in a nervous breath and adjusted the sleeves of his doublet. Running his fingers through his dark hair he stepped back into the cabin, ready to rejoin his circle of friends.

 **Author's Note:** Thank y'all so much for your follows, favs, and reviews! It means a lot that you guys stopped by and decided to support me. Here's another chapter for ya, sorry it's a tad late. Also, that teaser, though?!


	15. A Walk on the Water

Chapter 15

A Walk on the Water

Thanks to Eloisa's knowledge of the Outer Rim Territories scattered around them, Rey and Ben's motley crew found a friendly-enough moon to trade in the cramped shuttle. It had taken a few hours, but the counter-straddling and the knocking elbows had gotten pretty old. It had been roomy enough with only two people, but six more bodies had Rey on the edge of a nervous breakdown, even if their guests were friends. Growing up alone on a barren desert planet gave her a distaste for large groups of people, especially in close quarters.

At first, she didn't know what to think of Ben's royal guards. The first time she'd laid eyes on them in Mer'in, flashbacks of the Praetorians arose in her mind. She and Ben had almost died defending themselves against those red-clad monsters, but if what Ben said was true, these people would help and protect them until they reached the Resistance or until the Resistance found them. She missed Finn, Poe, Rose, and Chewie dearly, but these guys made nice stand-ins. Sestro's cocky manner was almost identical to the X-wing pilot back on Raspitar while Edric's dignified yet sassy manner made him a great fit for Finn.

Out of all of them, though, Eloisa seemed to bond with her the most. On their way to the small, remote moon of Jemf, the two women swapped stories about their lives before the war and the humorous bits that came with them. Gara, the planet where Eloisa hailed from, was all flat plains and farmland. She spent her days out in the orchards with her family, skin burning in the two suns and hands red from the thorns of the gal trees they harvested. Despite the grimness of their past lives,

Rey, Ben, and the squad of guards decided to drop down to Jemf and trade in the shuttle for a bigger transport. Once that task was complete, they'd set out in search for Resistance allies and perhaps clear out some more First Order forces if the need for it arose. It had been almost two weeks since Rey fell to the surface of Nov Sensum in the _Millennium Falcon_. Maybe Leia and the others knew she was still alive and had sent out search parties. But no one knew about how Ben had pulled her through the Force bond. Not even Rey knew that could have been a possibility. Nevertheless, she still held out hope that after they bought their new ship the Resistance would find them at last.

Rey stared out the side window with Eloisa as Ben dipped the crowded shuttle below the rich white clouds of Jemf. Everyone in the cabin let out an audible gasp as the moon's surface was revealed.

Massive swathes of tall, pale trees stretched out to the horizon. Sleek red, purple, and blue leaves swayed from each branch like decorative glass ornaments, carpeting the surface of the moon in twinkling crimson. A bright, merry ocean outlined one edge of the forest, reflecting the lush blue of the sky above. Stony houses neatly lined the sandy coastline. The green gas giant that Jemf orbited around loomed overhead as if keeping an eye on the peaceful scenery drifting below it. Nov Sensum had had a natural, woodsy beauty while this place was a surreal dream made shockingly real. Rey noticed that her mouth was hanging open and she quickly shut it.

A tiny crowd of towering, narrow structures grew out of the red woods like long, pale stems of grass. A few ships were parked along the three or so landing platforms that made themselves apparent.

Their group parked the cramped shuttle by one of the higher rises. Despite the ruralness of the environment around them, the buildings were sleek and well-constructed like on the nicer city planets. Just off to their left a small artificial stream carved its way through the walkways, covered by glass and trickling off the side into the cool air, turning to vapor.

It seemed to be early morning, a large red sun emerging from the glistening forest and casting a warm glow through the glassy leaves. A few shops and booths appeared to be open, lights on and already buzzing with a number of tired-looking customers.

"There's a shipyard nearby," Eloisa reiterated, the first one to step out of the cabin and into the fresh air. She reached her arms over her head and ran her finger through her long, dark hair. Rey, Ben, and the rest of the guards followed suit, blinking in the sunlight and stretching out various limbs. Ben pulled his hood over his head and looked around nervously. His lips pressed together and his hand reached for his lightsaber.

"We're safe as can be here, don't worry," Sestro reassured him and they walked collectively down the spiraling walkway. Rey hung back and turned her gaze this way and that, taking in the sights. Unlike Urear, the buildings were clean and elegant. Nothing had to be compensated for with flashy lights and glowing neon. Storefronts selling steaming food and cheap little trinkets lined the wall next to them. The species here were diverse in both species and demographics. Families strolled hand in hand from one shop to the next. Couples sat on stone benches, feeding each other breakfast. Cloaked men with their hands in their pockets brushed past them, carrying bulging rucksacks with pieces of metal and wire sticking out of the top.

They traveled down the angled walkway, cloaks rippling collectively. As the guards joked and chatted amongst themselves. Rey and Ben walked side by side behind them, both keeping silent. Every once and awhile, he would shoot her a nervous glance but look quickly away, as if he was afraid of meeting her gaze. His hands were clenched into fists and Rey could have sworn that a slight blush played along his cheeks. What in the world was he so agitated about?

Soon a high steel archway met them at the bottom of the tower. Clusters of shiny red leaves hung from strings of spare wire, creating a make-shift curtain for customers to hold back and step through. They all must have looked very conspicuous all coming through at the same time, but it's not like it could be helped too much. Emerging on the other side, they were greeted with twin smiles and waves.

"Howdy, folks!" hailed the taller of the two older zabrak men, several rings glinting off of his grimy fingers. "Talla and Wanti at your service. What brings you into our humble abode today?"

"Some spare parts, or are you in need of a whole new ship?" asked Wanti, the shorter zabrak, twirling his long, graying hair into a ponytail with a piece of red wire.

The wall on the other side of their main desk was open to a spacious courtyard half full of parked ships of all kinds, from small shuttles to larger transports to even stolen TIE fighters. Parts and machine components littered crowded workbenches or filled tool chests up to the brim. A pang in Rey's chest climbed up her chest and she found herself a little homesick for her walker back on Jakku.

"I'm afraid we'll be needing the whole thing," Joran started. He walked up to the sales desk and confidently slapped his hand down on the rough counter. "Do you trade? We got a shuttle that's in prime condition. But we're in need of something bigger."

The others nodded to back up his claim, but Rey gulped down her apprehension. If there was anything she picked up from living on Jakku, it was that trading was a nasty business. One day it could buy you everything you possibly needed. The next you only got a half portion to eat the rest of the day.

A holo-screen screen a few inches above the desk, scrolling through a few standard bulletins in bright blue. Just after Joran gave them their offer, the graphics switched, and Rey's heart skipped a beat.

The eight of them were posted in the "Wanted" section of the news. Each of their likeness was captured in the shaky hologram, with Rey and Ben's faces concealed by the masks. "Bulani" and "Selisa" were typed in Galactic Basic underneath the flickering pictures. The guards' names and faces were lined up under theirs.

Before Rey could make a move, Wanti glanced at the hologram, then froze with his eyes wide with realization. Everyone stood as rigid as statues, scared to move or act. Ben gave Rey a fearful look, reaching for the lightsaber on his belt. She put a shaking hand on the lightsaber staff slung over her back. The whole much have looked pretty comical from an outsider's point of view.

The two mechanics looked at one another, their hair swinging around. Then they turned their harsh gazes back to their customers and, to Rey's surprise, smiled broadly.

"No need for the long faces!" Talli laughed, waving their intense reactions away with a clawed hand. "We don't turn in heroes, now do we?"

The two men started to walk around their desk and approach their group. Wanti reached out and grabbed Ben's outstretched hand and shook it excitedly. He took a cautionary step back but pursed his lips and finished the handshake. The other guards collectively breathed in a sigh of relief, cloaks sliding to conceal their blasters once more.

"We can't thank you enough!" Talli boomed, holding out his hand for Ames to shake. The older woman nodded firmly and accepted his gesture.

"This was the young man that saved my niece Kaji! She had told me about the masked man who stopped a baton in midair!" Wanti let go of Ben's hand and gave him a small yet excited salute, which Ben returned politely. He raised his eyebrows at Rey and she smirked in return.

Now she knew what they were talking about. There had been a young couple that Ben saved from a shock baton that was careening through the air. Ben told her about it on the way over. From the way a slight smile played across his lips, he felt good about it. Now she couldn't help but grin with pride.

"We are forever indebted to you," Talli told them, "Please, come with us and pick what you want, and we'll take your shuttle for it"

The two men bowed deeply, their hair nearly touching the dirt floor. They stood back up and beckoned Rey, Ben, and the guards out of the building and into the sunlit yard of ships. Rey put her fists on the hips and breathed in the potent smell of starship fuel. She was a kid and a candy store.

"This one looks pretty sweet, huh, boss?" Edric pointed to a broken-down light freighter. It's orange paint was peeling off and rust had eaten at the wings.

"What about this one? Looks pretty roomy," Sal croaked, gesturing at a bulky quad jumper. "And it'll take us pretty far, too," he muttered stroking his beard.

"I think we have a winner, gentlemen!" Ames waved them all over to the ship of her choice.

They all stood under the shade of a YT-2400, a light freighter. The rounded hull and side cockpit placement all screamed _Millennium Falcon_ to Rey. Ben looked up, arms crossed and face set with a heavy expression. He had had the same impressions she got as well.

"What do you think?" Sestro asked, leaning carelessly against one of the legs of landing gear. The rest of his friends waited for his approval, shuffling their boots in the loose dirt.

Rey placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Ben gave her an understanding look, then nodded to the rest of the guards, who all traded high fives and cheers with one another.

"This means I won't have to sit on you lap anymore," Edric said to Joran. The older man smiled begrudgingly but didn't respond, earning a mena chuckle from Ames.

"You've chosen this one, yes?" Talli appeared around the hull of a TIE fighter, wringing his hands in a cleaning cloth.

Joran nodded the affirmative and sealed the deal with a hearty handshake with the two mechanics. "We can't tell how much this means, really."

Wanti nodded to Rey and Ben, who shot each other excited looks.

"We wouldn't be mistaken that you all are looking for the Resistance, yes?" Talli asked.

Rey's heart leapt in her chest and she stepped forward and said, "Yes, we are! Can you help us?"

The man passed her a card with the name of the shop on it. "Take this to the coastal homes on the beach. My sister Zeph and her family live in a house on stilts just above the water, it's the only one like it around and you can't miss it. Tell her about yourselves and she'll be happy to take you in for a night or two. She also has a transmitter that could get a signal out to your friends."

Rey grinned like an idiot and snatched up the card gracelessly. "Thank you!" she crowed, taking the taller zabrak's hand and shaking it till her fingers turned numb. "We can't thank you enough, sir."

After all these weeks, she was finally going to see her friends again. Warmth flowed through her as memories of Finn and Poe and Rose flashed up in front of her. Chewie would be waiting for her with a big furry hug, and Leia would want to hear all about her journey with Ben.

Ben. What would happen to him once she reunited with her friends and comrades? She looked at him over her shoulder.

His jaw was set, and his eyes stared off into the forest, forlorn and welling with sudden emotion. The scar on his cheek looked darker and deeper than ever. His eyes flickered up to meet hers and she glanced away, embarrassed.

Walking back up to the shuttle, flying it back down to the penned ships below, and making the transaction took an hour or so, but to Rey it felt like only a few seconds had passed. It was only when they were up in the air in their new freighter that time slowed and allowed for her to take a breath.

The space inside the YT-2400 was more than enough to convince them of its utilities. No longer did the guards have to squeeze up next to one another but sat comfortably around a wide round table in the ship's lounge. Luckily, like in the _Falcon_ , the table came equipped with holographic dejarrik chess, and Rey joined in on a few games as Ben piloted them down to the shimmering coastline.

She and Ben hadn't traded many words since their depature from what Eloisa told them was Capre Hom, a small tourist destination. He wasn't his usual dry, smarmy self and kept to the cockpit most of the journey. Rey glanced worriedly at the entrance to the cockpit over her shoulder, seeing his dark broad frame hunched over the controls.

"Are you alright, Rey?" Ames asked softly, her hand hovering over the button that would slaughter Sestro's entire offense. The rest of the guards turned their sleepy gazes to her and she blushed at the sudden attention.

"I'm okay," she reassured them, putting his hands up in a gesture of good will. But that wasn't all true. Sure, they were safe and well on their way to the Resistance one way or another, but that seemed to really bother Ben.

White sand flew up around the landing gear of their freighter as Ben set them down on a short grassy cliff. Rey hopped to the window and smiled to herself.

There it was, as the mechanics had promised. A wide, wooden house perched on a series of steel stilts a number of feet above the gentle ocean waves. The sun glistened white on the blue water, giving the scene new layers of exquisite color and depth.

Rey was the first one out of the ship, taking off at an excited run while the rest of her peers adopted a more mellow pace. She wanted to peer back and invite Ben to run down with her, but if his reaction was like anything since the shop, it would be less than ideal.

A tall zabrak woman in short tan robes and a young child, stepped outside onto the front deck of the house. Rey's boot's hit wood as she ascended up to dock and presented the card to her. "Your name is Zeph, right?" she panted.

"Yes, but what is this all about?" the zabrak asked, her brow furrowed as she looked over the rest of Rey's group. Joran and Ames held up their hands in greeting while Ben nodded solemnly.

"We're the ones that saved your daughter Kaji on Mer'in. Your brother sent us here," Rey explained, pulling her lightsaber staff over her head and showing it as proof of her identity.

Zeph paused for a moment, then her face screwed up with emotion. She leaned forward and wrapped Rey up in a tight hug.

"Thank goodness you were there!" Zeph cried into Rey's shoulder. "You saved a daughter and a mother that day." She sniffed and looked over to the little boy. The boy nodded shyly and kicked at the loose wooden planks.

"And this is _Bulani_ , yes?" she asked, waving for Ben to come closer. He pursed his lips but walked up behind Rey. He nodded and took out his lightsaber as Rey had.

Zeph jumped back from Rey and clapped joyfully. "The galaxy is truly on our side! Please, come in, come in!"

The guards clambered up the angled dock and joined the crowd of people inside the house. The light wood and white furniture made for a great atmosphere and the strong scent of cooked meat and vegetables wafted from the kitchen.

"Anything we have is yours: food, drink, beds, anything!" The zabrak woman quickly set about slamming dishes onto a large table while. Sal and Edric ran to their host and gently took the plates from her hands, finishing her job for her.

"Wanti said you had a transmitter. For contacting the Resistance?" Rey asked

The young boy looked up to his grandmother as she sighed. "A relic of the days of the Empire, but it should still work."

"We'll be able to assist you if you need," Joran told her. "It's the least we could do to repay your kindness."

"Then it's settled!" Zeph put his hands on her hips and looked around at her guests. "First, let's eat. I've never started a transmission without a meal in my stomach. Makes me sound a little more friendly, don't you think?"

…

The sun hovered dangerously close to the water, as if a child were dangling the bright ball on a string and threatened to drown its fire in the blue depths. Rey stepped out into the creamy sand and sucked in the rich ocean air. Flecks of moisture alighted on her nose and her robes fluttered in the breeze.

She crouched down and scooped up a handful of sand, letting the minerals trickle through her fingers. The sand here was pleasant and cool, while on Jakku the dunes had sat hot and rough in the scorching sun. She never imagined sand to feel any other way, but here she was, lightyears away from that trash heap.

She was finally going back to her friends. She was going home.

A small dock floated in the ocean away from the main house connected by a narrow walkway, the waves rapping on the bottom of the planks. As Rey watched Ben stepped out the back door and journeyed down to dock. He sat down with his legs crossed and his arms supporting his weight behind him. Like on Nov Sensum, his hair was tied back in a half bun and he had ditched the doublet, wearing a black undershirt. His pearly skin positively glowed in the sun's rays.

It wasn't long before Rey looped around the house and approached him from behind. She wobbled a bit as she did so. The dock wasn't as steady as solid ground.

"Mind if I join you?" Her voice shook just a fraction, but she winced at the sound of it.

He glanced back at her and that familiar smirk flashed across his lips. "Of course, by all means." He held out his hand at the spot next to him and she obliged.

They sat in silence for a moment, drinking in the sights and sounds of the sea.

"Have you ever tried walking on water before?"

Rey threw her head back a bit in confusion. "What?" she asked, caught off guard. "We never had enough water to drink, much less walk on."

"When I was little, my mom would catch me on top of the ponds outside our palace. I'd get in trouble for getting my new shoes wet."

Rey didn't respond but rejoiced silently. He was finally talking normally with her again.

"Here." He pulled himself up, slipped his boots off and rolled up his pants. Then he stuck one foot over the side of the dock and leaned forward.

"No!" Rey shrieked in surprise, reaching out to catch him even though he was feet away. But the water didn't break under him. His foot landed squarely on the waves as if an invisible floor had materialized just beneath the surface. Now both of his feet were firmly planted in the calm water. He squinted in the light of the setting sun and smiled warmly, offering his hand.

Rey's mouth hung open in disbelief, but she snapped it closed and stood up, wringing her hands nervously.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall." His extended his reach further. Ripples spread under his feet.

She gulped and gripped his hand tightly, his warmth coursing through her. Slowly she dipped her boot towards the surface of the water. She closed her eyes and concentrated on channeling her energy towards her feet. She would not let herself topple over like a fool.

Sure enough, her efforts paid off. A hardness met her shoe and she could put her full weight down. Though that didn't stop her from holding Ben's hand. Without his steadfast touch, she would fall straight into the ocean.

Now they stood hand in hand, water lapping at their feet and the ocean breeze coursing over their bare skin. They hadn't been this close in proximity since their fight on Mer'in.

"Here," he said, and he led her slowly along, one step at a time. Rey's grip tightened and her breathing quickened, but she followed along. She reached for his other hand and he took it, his eyes never leaving hers. His black hair flew around his face, thick and wild. She wondered how it would feel entangled in her fingers.

Now the sun was almost submerged in the watery horizon. The wisps of clouds overhead turned mild shades of pink and orange, like the sky itself was being kissed by fire. The breathtaking colors stretched on for miles and miles in either direction, creating beauty without end.

Her joy at the gorgeous spectacle was quenched when her gaze moved to Ben. Fear lined his face and his jaw was working, as if chewing on unspoken words. His scar looked almost black in the darkening light.

"What's wrong?" She let go of his hands and stepped away to give him some space. The ocean obeyed her will, and she remained on top of the waves.

He hesitated for a moment, panic clouding his dark brown eyes. But she waited, knowing the words he would choose would likely be the right ones.

"Rey," he murmured, "I need to tell you something. I… should have said this a long time ago, and I need you to hear this before you go."

Her heart hammered. "Before I go?"

"Back to your friends. Before all of this goes away." His Adam's apple bobbed nervously, and he held out his hands slightly as if to steady himself.

"Ben, we'll still be together—"

"But it won't be like it was, just the two of us." He closed his eyes at those last words. Rey's hands shook, and her heart hammered against her ribs. Pieces of loose hair flittered across her face, but her arms were too heavy to put them back into place.

"You also wanted to know why I was doing all of this for you, back on Nov Sensum. You said you'd get your answer."

He pursed his lips one more time before speaking again.

"Rey, I'm in love with you." Emotion filled every syllable, spilling out into the cool sea air.

A weight dropped in Rey's chest. Her mind reeled. Sure, she had felt the same way since her stand against Jayne in the rain, but having it verbalized crossed some sort of line. They had been friends and things were fine. Now they were both diving into something unknown.

"I've wanted to tell you since we saw each other again on Raspitar, but I've always been so afraid that you'd hate me like before." His voice finally began to shake. "You are everything to me, and I don't want to lose you like I did on Crait because of my horrendous mistakes and—"

Rey didn't get the chance to hear the rest. Her concentration finally slipped out of shock, and she plummeted with a scream into the ocean.

The acidic burn of the salt water scorched her nose and throat. She floundered in surprise before Ben's arms wrapped around her and pulled her up out of the water. Her hands met the wood planks of the dock and she hauled herself out of the water, sprawling out across the dock while coughing and shivering.

A great splash of water alerted her to Ben's arrival beside her. He lay on his back neck to her, his chest rising and falling with each heavy breath.

"Thanks," she said shakily, sitting up and wringing water out of her hair.

"Don't mention it," he replied.

Both of them dripped water like full sponges as they clambered back to the house. Ben had his boots in tow while Rey rang water out of her robes. The sun was completely down, and the fresh night sky was dimpled with countless stars.

That feeling was there again. Despite everything that had happened on the water minutes before, Ben still fit in beside her like a puzzle piece. Now his shape filled the empty space beside her, Rey knew it sounded strange, but she had missed him before he had even known him.

They entered the dark house as quietly as they could, though Rey's boots did squelch horribly against the tiled floor. Zeph had spare rooms upstairs and the guards had agreed to take two out of the four. They left the other two for Rey and Ben, though the both of them protested at dinner that they didn't need rooms to themselves.

They climbed the staircase to the top floor. Already snores drifted from the first two bedrooms, signaling that everyone was fast asleep after the events of the day. The smells from dinner still lingered behind, tangy and delectable.

Now it was time for the two of them to split up into their respective rooms. Ben nodded to her and muttered a soft goodnight before turning his back.

But Rey didn't want him to leave. Not now, not ever.

A heat swelled in her chest as she grabbed his shoulder. Ben turned back around with a blank expression. Before he could utter a word, Rey put her lips on his, breathing in the sea salt on his skin.

After a second, she pulled away, fear flooding her veins.

Ben looked as if he'd been hit over the head, but a moment later he was kissing her back, his large hands running down her back and his lips turning hers to mush. She knit her fingers into his long, wonderfully thick hair, her wish from before now fulfilled.

She broke the kiss just long enough to nod her head in the direction of her room. Then Ben whisked her off of her feet in a bridal carry. She clapped a hand over her mouth to contain her loud giggle but decided that another kiss from him would do the job just as well.

Even in the swirl of emotion, a sensation of peace filled her mind. He was here at last, this intimidating, awkward, powerful, gentle man that had changed her life forever.

With their bodies intertwined, they tumbled into Rey's room and shut the door behind them.

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the late upload, you guys, it's been a crazy week. But I hope you enjoyed the new chapter, I sure enjoyed writing it! Thanks for all your support, as usual!


	16. A Clash Between Worlds

Chapter 16

A Clash Between Worlds

Waking up next to Rey felt like something straight out of a wonderful, unobtainable dream. She and Ben were curled up together, his arms wrapped protectively around her rising and falling chest. Soft sunlight shone through the window's warped pane of glass and alighted on the soft curve of her jaw. His mind coursed with cool, blue relief as he breathed in her mild scent of her skin, still salty from their swim in the ocean the night before. He knew he had woken up late, but his body sank further into the mattress and lulled him into a light slumber.

Before he could fall asleep completely, Rey stirred and turned over to face him. Her eyes shone brightly, the freckles on her nose dancing in the morning light. She looked fresh with pieces of her hair sticking out of her half-bun and her bare shoulder emerging from under their covers. She placed a fist under her chin and gazed down at him.

"Good morning," she whispered, cracking a wide white smile.

Affection bloomed in Ben's chest and he leaned forward to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Good morning to you, too," he replied.

She laid her head back down onto the pillow. Her fingers curled through his hair. "It seems like so long ago that we wanted each other dead. I can't believe I almost killed you back in that forest."

"I, for one, am glad you didn't succeed. Or else we wouldn't be here." He inched forward and placed his forehead on hers, gently setting his hand on her shoulder. They stayed this way for a minute or so, frozen in time, drinking in the warmth of this moment wrapped in gold.

"You really are pretty when you're not snarling at anyone." Rey giggled softly, tracing the dark stubble along his jaw.

He couldn't help but smirk. "What am I when I'm not snarling, sweetheart?"

"Still pretty good-looking, I must admit" she replied as a light blush spread across her cheeks. Her finger moved up to trail along his scar, across his cheek and down his neck. Though the skin around the wound was numb, her touch still sent butterflies careening through his stomach.

"I don't think I've said sorry about this, actually," she realized allowed.

"Don't worry, it's all behind us." He reached up to set his hand on hers. "No matter what you've done or what you do, I'll still be here for you, scars and all."

Her smile turned watery and tears threatened to slip from her eyes. Her hand rose up to the scar on her right arm. "I'll be here, too. Scars and all."

He swept her up in a tight, passionate kiss, one hand on her back and the other cupping her face. Her hands rested against his chest, her touch solid and smooth. The bedcovers swirled around them. Here she was, here they were, at last together and whole.

Rey pulled herself out of the kiss, panting slightly as she said, "Everyone's downstairs for breakfast. I don't know about you, but I'm starving." She wiped away the tears from her eyes and touched the tip of her nose against his. Her breath settled on his skin, sweet and warm.

Ben never wanted this moment to end, wrapped up in soft blankets and sunlight. But his stomach rumbled as if on cue and he grinned like an idiot.

"I suppose so," he muttered before planting a quick kiss on her forehead and leaping out of bed. "I've had enough ration packets for a lifetime. Let's get some real food before those ravenous ghouls steal everything."

Ben knew as soon as he and Rey stepped into the kitchen a few minutes later that things were going to be a bit awkward. Both of them arrived late to breakfast, the smell of stewing meats luring them down the stairs. He noticed way too late that his hair was more disheveled than usual, and his doublet had been buttoned wrong. Rey's robes were also wrinkled and out of order. Both of them rubbed sleep from their eyes while the guards traded loaded glances across the dining table.

"Looks like a couple someones stayed up a little too late," chirped Sestro, smiling into his steaming mug of tea. Joran and Ames looked at one another seriously as if deciding to tell him off but said nothing. Sal and Edric wouldn't meet their eyes while Ben could have sworn Eloisa flashed Rey a quick thumbs up.

"Good news, everyone," chirped Zeph, hoisting a platter of fruit and fried meat over their heads and plopping it in the center of the table. "I was able to get a signal last night and someone received it! I got a short reply and the Resistance should be on their way!"

The guards clapped and shouted their gratitude. Rey beamed up at their host while she tucked into breakfast, but she shot a worried glance across the table at him. Guilt welled up in his throat as he gathered food onto his plate.

The loving warmth from their waking up together almost evaporated altogether. What would they do now? Her friends were on their way and bringing with them plenty of protection. But how who they react to… what even were they now? Friends? Lovers? They had spent one night together, but who knew what would happen to what they had?

"So, we just wait around till they get here?" Sestro asked, dipping a hunk of bread into a puddle of sauce on his plate.

"It looks like it," Ben said. Rey nodded along with him and slid him a sly grin as she passed him a bowl of fruit with the Force. He couldn't help but grin back. The memories of the night before started to drift back again, keeping his worry of the Resistance at bay. Another breakfast on their old shuttle, was what this was, just the two of them. As long as they weren't here yet, they still had time to share each other's company.

"Well, we'll have to find something else to do in the meantime then," Rey managed to say with chunks of bread lodged in her mouth. She gestured to Ben with her knife. "Fancy a spar later?"

"Of course," he replied. "If you were anything like you were last night, you'll have me beat in no time."

It took Ben a few seconds to realize that guards and host alike all had their eyes on them. He had forgotten they were even there. Rey looked down at her plate, eyes wide and lips pursed in embarrassment.

"Do you all mind?" he snapped, taking a sip of tea from his mug and staring back.

"You know, we're here, too." Edric pointed out, drawing a few chuckles from his comrades. "You should be careful about the phrasing you choose."

"We should never have rescued you, then," he shot back. Rey let out a rough burst of laughter, and soon enough the rest of the group joined in.

A flash of green lit up in the corner of Ben's eye and his gut turned to stone. He was all too familiar with this indication of danger.

"Get down!" he bellowed as a bright green blaster bolt smashed through the glass window and charred the wooden counter blocking its path. Ben pushed Rey out of her chair and onto the ground with a grunt of effort. His guards copied his action, landing on the floor and scrambling for the blasters that hung in holsters on the other side of the kitchen. Zeph shrieked and dove under the safety of the table as plates and glasses clattered down on top of them.

Two more blasts landed themselves in the woven tapestry on the opposite wall, level to where their heads were just moments before. Rey hunched over and pulled her lightsaber staff, which was leaning against the doorway, towards her with the Force. Ben reached down for his saber and cursed. He had left it upstairs, still clipped to the belt he had thrown off the night before. He was usually more careful than this.

"Come out, we know you're in there, scum!" a severe voice lashed at them from outside the front door. Ben reached out with his mind and was met with a dozen or so troopers waiting on the other side of the fragile wood walls.

Rey shot up to her feet and ignited the twin blades of her staff. Before Ben could stop her, she was steps away, running to open the door and meet their assailants. Rage raced through his veins and he followed after without a second thought. He didn't have a weapon, he realized a second later, but he'd do his best to protect her. The floor shook behind him as the guards ran forward to back them up.

They were met with a barrage of laser blasts. Fifty soldiers formed a semicircle around the bridge, their only way off the deck without going for a swim. Penma stood smugly behind them, gloves hands behind her back and looking as crisp as ever.

Rey skidded to a halt in front of the narrow strip of timber and began to block shots with her staff. Blasts ricocheted this way and that. She certainly could hold them off, but he'd have to help out if they were going to make it out of this.

"Stay down," he commanded Zeph. She nodded, whimpering and folding her head in her arms.

As Joran and Ames commanded their friends to fire back, Ben ran to Rey, arm outstretched, and fingers splayed with effort. He wouldn't let Penma and her lackies touch Rey, let them ruin any more peaceful mornings.

"What are you doing?!" She shouted as he ducked under her and gritted his teeth in concentration. "You don't have your lightsaber!"

"That shouldn't stop me from protecting all of you!" he yelled back over the din. His fingertips tingled. Sweat beaded his forehead as he focused all of his willpower on the here in now: To protect. To keep them safe. To keep her safe.

Eloisa let out a startled gasp and some of the stormtroopers surrounding them lowered their weapons in shock while Penma scolded them for their incompetency. Rey turned to him with her mouth hanging open. It took Ben a moment to register what they were reacting to in his struggle to access this much Force power.

Green bursts of light hung in the air at random intervals, crackling and hissing in their efforts to escape their transparent prison. A dozen or so were trapped with a motion of Ben's hand and a rumble of pride stirred in his stomach. It had taken months for him to perfect the technique to hold one blast in place. Now, even without his lightsaber, he was a force to be reckoned with. Seeing Rey out of the corner of his eye, he now realized why this change had occurred. Being together had done more than improve their emotions, but their physical abilities as well.

Suddenly the rumbled of engines cut through the air, already shimmering with the heat from firing pistols and heavy weapons. Penma held up her hand to stop her soldiers from firing and Ben and Rey looked up to the sky. It was as if the entire battle held its breath at the sound, straining to hear more.

"It's the Resistance!" Sal crowed with joy.

Sure enough, as Ben turned his gaze upwards towards the glistening glassy forest, blurs of orange and white soared over the trees and raced towards the ocean. Five or so X-wings swept up loose leaves in their wake and descended down upon the hoard of stormtroopers. Their guns fired almost in unison, raining down red bolts of destruction.

"Get down!" he bellowed, and he, Rey, and the guards all dropped to the deck in the hopes that the pilot's eyesight was as good as their aim. Stormtroopers were blasted off of their feet one after the other with a precision that he had often heard the TIE pilots discussing in hushed tones on the _Finalizer_. The blasts that were frozen one minute zipped out of his hold and zipped over their heads.

As Penma's troops began to scatter across the beach, two more shuttles materialized over the forest's horizon, leaving light contrails in their wide wake. Transports, and big ones too, just like the ships that had arrived at the castle before he had abducted Rey and taken her to Starkiller Base. Through the explosions and the yells Ben reveled in the irony of it as he lay beside Rey, her arm thrust out over him. The first time, taking her away. This time, to return her.

The X-wings took care of most of the ground troops. The stormtroopers not knocked to the ground were in full retreat, sprinting towards the safety of the glassy trees.

"Come back here!" Penma screamed at them, shooting her pistol up in the air as she desperately waved her arms over her head. "You cowards! How dare you leave your commanding officer behind!"

She didn't even see Ames stomping up behind her. With a dull thud the guard brought down the butt of her gun down on Penma's temple, sending her sprawling into the sand.

Soon the only noises that reached Ben's ears were the roar of the Resistance ships. They began to descend and landed on the wide beach surrounding Zeph's hut. Sand particles whipped through the air as Ben, Rey, and the rest of the guards stood back up with their hands up over their heads in gestures of surrender. One of the men picked Penma's unconscious body off the beach and carried towards the ship.

Rey would tell them they were in good hands, but Ben's muscles filled with lead at the sight of General Organa's transports opening their bay doors. He she was, after years and years of separation and heartbreak. As her soldiers spilled out onto the sands with fresh faces and gleaming blasters, the former Supreme Leader in him registered this as only a preamble to the arrival of the Resistance general. But a glance back at Rey's hopeful face reminded him of what was really in front of him: his estranged mother.

"Rey! Rey!" cried out two voices, ringing over the marching boots and cooling engines. Two figures sprinted towards the base of the bridge, one short and stocky, the other taller and dark.

"Finn! Rose!" Rey brushed back Ben and took off down the rickety wooden bridge, robes whipping against her legs as she turned her staff off. She ran into them and wrapped them in a violent hug, whoops of laughter echoing over to him.

Ben could only keep his hands up and stare. Two eras of his life smashed together, Rey and her Resistance, his great love and his great hate. This effect was bizarre, as if two worlds were colliding right in front of him, sending out shockwaves and fire.

Now he could recognize the man she embraced: FN-2817, or Finn, the stormtrooper who defected and made a laughingstock of the First Order's troops. The small girl he did not recognize from before, but according to Rey her she had to be the "Rose."

A dozen blasters now had their barrels aimed at Ben and his guards, shouts being tossed about and feet grinding deeper into the sand. Anger rippled through him at the sight and was about to hold out his hand to summon his lightsaber from the window above when—

"Don't shoot them!" Rey skidded to a halt in front of the bridge with her arms splayed and her expression panicked. "They won't hurt you, they're on our side!"

An ugly, rearing silence engulfed the beach. Soldiers turned to one another with questioning looks but kept their blasters aimed.

"Rey, are you insane?!" the small girl called to her, clutching Finn in horror.

"What is this? That's Kylo Ren there! You can't honestly think something's not wrong here." The former stormtrooper stepped forward to pull her back to his side, but she wouldn't budge from her spot.

"This went as well as I could have expected," sighed Eloisa.

"Please everyone, I know this all looks bad, but you have to trust me, lower your weapons, I beg of you!"

"You heard the girl."

A new voice now, one with poise and power. General Leia Organa hobbled through the mass of soldiers, which parted like grassy plains in the wind. She walked with a cane now, a detail that dug into Ben's heart like a knife. Her hair streaked with white, the hands now veiny and covered in dark spots. Despite all of that, that same sharp, brown-eyed gaze still shot through him as it had in the past. Like she was reading his mind. She could do that, from time to time.

Organa stopped and firmly pressed her cane into the sand. "It's alright, Rey, I won't let anything happen."

Rey nodded and stepped behind the general. She looked over her shoulder at Ben, a fearful grimace on her face.

Now it was just Ben and his mother. He turned to the guards behind him and gestured for them to stay where they were. Then he sucked in a deep, terrified breath and strolled along the bridge while adjusting his crooked doublet. He felt so naked in front of these soldiers. No mask, no cloak, not even his lightsaber. His boots sank into the soft white sand, threatening to pull everything he was down into its depths.

The general remined silent and still as Ben arrived in front of her, towering over her short, hunched figure. Rey gave him a knowing look and stepped back to join her friends, crossing her arms over her chest. She understood the magnitude of this meeting and let him take care of it himself.

It was all Ben could do to choke back the emotions threatening to overflow.

"Mom?" he tried. He must look like an utter mess in front of her, his doublet splinter-ridden and buttoned wrong, hair flat and unkempt. Still a filthy monster, one that had murdered her husband and had fought against her army tooth and nail. Stripped down to his bare bones.

She said nothing but crossed her arms over her chest. She wore a plain brown dress with tasteful golden jewelry, a far cry from the gaudy gowns and elaborate hair-dos of his childhood. When she had walked him down in the gardens of Dantooine, when she had helped him tie up his boots before taking him to his daily classes. All of that was gone now, ground to dust under by the winds of time. Tears filled his eyes, but he blinked them away and continued to speak.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone. I saved Rey over Nov Sensum and we've been trying to find you for quite some time."

"So she could lead you to us!" Finn snapped and Rose had to hold grab ahold of his collar to stop his aggressive advance.

Leia held her hand out to Finn, signaling him to stop. She nodded towards Ben for him to continue.

"I'm not with the First Order anymore, and I only wanted to bring her to you safely." Then he met his mother's gaze directly, speaking specifically to her.

"I'm so sorry. I want to make things right now." His words came out shaky, but he couldn't care less. He only wanted for his mother to understand.

She still didn't respond. She stared up at him, her expression frustratingly blank. He closed his eyes angrily and started to march towards her, fists clenched.

A collective clatter of aimed blasters filled his ears, but he ignored the warning. Once he was within a few feet of Leia, he gulped down his pride and fell to his knees in front of her. He heard Rey's high-pitched gasp behind him.

"Please," he begged. His long black hair fell into his eyes as he stared up into his mother's face. The salty sea air scorched his searing lungs. Two tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I know I ruined everything. I've hurt so many people, and I left you and Dad, and I fell into darkness, and I am ashamed. Mom, I am so ashamed of what I did. Please, if you won't forgive me, I want you to know this. I'll leave as soon as you want me to, but I want you to know how what I've done has torn me to pieces."

Only the crash of the waves and the rustle of the wind through the glassy forest reached Ben's ears for the longest time. Everyone waited with bated breath as Leia stood above him, as unmoving and steady as a mountain. Ben was empty, all of his fear and passion poured out in front of him. All he could do now was wait for his mother's words.

Leia sunk down to her knees in front of him, sand particles sticking to her dress and her cane toppling over behind her. With surprising speed and strength for an older woman, she pulled his broad, awkward frame into a tight hug.

A wave of confusion overcame his jolt of surprise.

"I'd thought you'd hate me. That you'd never forgive me," he gulped, hugging her back.

"My dear boy, that's never been true." She was so small and fragile against him, so different from the proud youth she radiated in the memories of his childhood. "I've always loved you and I always will. I was just so scared you were gone forever."

No longer was Ben Solo a man, but a boy curled up in his mother's warm, loving arms, her hand caressing the back of his head in a gesture that almost split his heart. He didn't even bother to hold back his tears now. They kneeled in the sand for the longest time, both mother and son crying onto one another's shoulders.

Leia pulled herself from the hug and held Ben's shoulder's at arm's length. She smiled weakly and sighed. "You look so much like your father. But I'm not too sure where this black hair came from."

Ben laughed lightly and stood up, helping his mother to her feet and returning her cane to her. She immediately turned around to face her soldiers and ships.

"No one touches him, understand that?"

A chorus of uneasy "Yes, ma'am"s and "Of course"s filled the air.

"We leave for Raspitar now. We'll figure this whole thing out soon." Leia then walked over to Rey, still standing with Finn and Rose. She reached her arms around Rey as she had with him.

"It's so good to see you again, my dear. I trust you'll follow us home?" he heard her say. She released her and began the trek back to the transports.

Rey waved for Finn and Rose to follow the general without her. She slung her staff over her shoulder as she ran towards Ben and wrapped him in a warm, calm embrace. He hugged her back, breathing in the scent of her hair.

He glanced up to see Finn give him a flabbergasted look just as their bay doors closed and the transports took off.

"Mission success?" Sestro asked. The group of guards had appeared behind them, holstering blasters in their coats. Their freighter sat parked on the short cliff above them. All that was left to do was pay Zeph back for the damages and get their supplies from inside.

Ben peered down at Rey then pressed his forehead against hers. The morning sunlight scattered its rays across the rippling ocean. He breathed in through his nose and watched the transport ships soar through the blue, cloud-pocked sky.

"I suppose so."

 **Author's Note** **:** Guys, I am SO sorry for the late update! Thank you all for your patience. I've had to study for finals and my schedule's going to be off until they're over. I'll be back as soon as I can.


	17. A Ghost of a Plan

Chapter 17

A Ghost of a Plan

"It's like time has rewound itself," Rey smiled over her shoulder to Ben, who stood in the doorway of the cockpit with his arms crossed and a worried expression on his face. "It's just as I left it."

The guards grew silent as Rey spoke, knowing that her words signaled their arrival to Raspitar. The same deep green forests blanketed most of the planet, just as it had those weeks ago. As she edged the freighter closer to the atmosphere, wisps of rain-gorged clouds streaked by their windows. On the dark side of the planet small yellow lights blinked up at them like stars.

Though her journey to the surface hit all the same beats, her circumstances couldn't have been more different. Instead of the _Falcon_ they flew a bargained freighter, and instead of Chewie the vessel held the former Supreme Leader of the First Order and his royal guards. The bitter loneliness of the past had evaporated to make way for a new hope, a new love. She glanced back at Ben again, who pursed his lips in acknowledgement.

Now the castle of King Canaan made itself visible through the leafy canopy of the thick jungle. The sun was just beginning to rise, casting pale yellow rays through the dewdrops that settled on each tree leaf. No rain in sight. Rey's heart sank a little bit at the thought.

She brought them down onto the landing bay along with the other Resistance ships that decided to join them. Soon the wooden decks were crowded with vessels, heat rippling the humid air.

Loads of Resistance soldiers piled out of their ships like spilled pebbles. Among the throng she spotted Finn and Rose, clutching one another and heads bent close together in secretive conversation. Her eyes drifted over to the squadron of parked X-wings, where Poe had jumped out of his craft and ran towards his friends with his hands outstretched.

"We should head out," she called to the guards over her shoulder, gathering up her lightsaber staff and the rest of her courage. Joran nodded as his comrades collected what little stuff they could carry. As the guards tromped down the ramp and into the morning sunlight, Rey softly placed her hand on Ben's arm, holding him back. He lurched forward, eyes bugging with fear but stopped at her touch.

"It's going to be okay. Leia told them not to touch you," she assured him, but the tightening in his jaw told her that her message hadn't quite gotten to him.

"They hate me," he said simply.

Rey snorted. "Well, of course they do!"

He gave her a look of utter confusion, color draining from his face.

"But we can change that. Show them you've grown like you've shown me. Please." She placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat against her fingers. "Trust me."

He sighed through his nose but nodded after a few moments. She smiled shakily and led him outside.

They both squinted in the hot daylight, the humid air alighting on their tongues like a wet cloth. Their boots had just hit the wooden planks when the massive crowd around them turned collectively towards them, generating a huge rustling noise like wind moving through heavy leaves. Angry stares shot at them with the intensity of any blaster bolt that had been fired at them during their lengthy journey. At the same time a few whoops and cheers rose up, the soldiers finding their last Jedi safe and sound.

"Rey!" Footsteps thundered towards them and a certain orange-clad pilot with tussled dark hair ran to Rey and wrapped her in a desperate hug. Finn and Rose were in tow behind him, their eyes locked onto the former Supreme Leader standing defensively behind her. Rey couldn't see Poe's face as he embraced her warmly, but she could sense the hostility in the gaze he sent Ben over her shoulder.

The guards had frozen in their tracks at this, but Rey nodded to them to continue on. Eloisa gave her a concerned look but spun back around to meet up with her partners.

"So, what's the story here?" He gestured dismissively to Ben, a testy smile grafted to his face. "Leia hasn't told me jack. It's really great to see you, as well," he shot over at Ben and pointed his index finger at his temple. "Still get headaches because of you."

Finn pulled Rose closer to him while they watched.

"I'm… sorry," Ben said stiffly. His teeth were gritted under his lips and his fists were clenched. "I'm past that."

"We'll have to see about that," Poe responded nastily, turning back to his friends and motioning for the three of them to start walking back towards the main group.

"You coming, Rey? We're going to meet up with the rest of the troops inside and talk things over. I guess you can bring him, too."

Rey looked up at Ben. His expression was stony, but he shrugged in agreement. A fight hadn't broken out like she had half-expected, but her friends' coldness still hurt her. Of course, they had no idea about how far Ben had come, but he was with her. Didn't they trust her judgement?

She knit her fingers through his and tugged him forward towards the arching castle walls. From the speed that Poe, Finn, and Rose walked at, it was as if they were trying to leave them in the dust.

…

"How do we know he's not here to just kill us?!"

"I know he's with the last Jedi, but come on!"

"And what was he even doing with her in that cottage in the first place?"

Shouts like this and many more reverberated throughout the crowded stone room. The holographic table scrolled through images of various First Order star destroyers almost for the sake of filling up space in the darkened room. Leia and King Canaan stood with their hands planted on the table, Leia's eyes closed against the onslaught of noise.

Ben's towering figure entered with Rey through the narrow doorway and immediately drew the attention of every prying glance. Their voices died down almost in unison like on the landing platform. Only their stares penetrated the room now.

"Good to see you two," Leia chirped up brightly, making her way around the large stone table and wrapping Rey in a tight hug.

"Can we please have an explanation of what's going on here?" Poe's voice rose over the rest of the crowd. Finn and Rose stood by his side, eyeing Rey fearfully. Ben was a rigid as a statue next to her, drawn up to his full height.

Leia held her hand up and her troopers immediately faltered. She peered around the dark room.

"It appears that we have a new ally." she announced to the room. Ben shifted nervously next to Rey and she squeezed his hand softly.

When her words were met with silence, she bowed her head and continued.

"This is it people. This guy right here is our final shot at the First Order. If everything works out the way my generals and I had predicted, the galaxy will finally be free from their clutches once and for all.

"What have you worked out?" Ames' voice rose up over the growing chatter. The Resistance fighters exchanged inquiring glances and nervous snatches of disbelief that reverberated off the cool stone walls.

"We need a way to diverge the bulk of the First Order's forces from the destroyers," one of Leia's generals explained. "We need to bring them down to Raspitar's surface for combat. Canaan, could this be feasible?"

The alien king raised his hand and gave a curt nod of approval.

"Meanwhile, our friend here will turn himself in to Hux and the rest of his commanding officers. With all the trouble he's caused him there's no way he'll ensure a quick death, so he'll keep him around awhile."

"Our friend." Not Ben, not Kylo Ren. A little bit more impersonal, but she probably intended it to sound that way in front of her troops.

"While the bulk of the Stormtroopers carry out their attack here, Rey will join him on the Finalizer and take down the First Order's main authority figures from the inside."

A squawk of dismay leapt up from the Resistance troops, include Rose and Poe washed over Rey like an ocean wave. Never before had her people, her cause, seemed so far away, drifting away from her faster and faster by the second.

Soon she couldn't take anymore. Much to Ben's surprise she stormed through the jostling crowd with her fists clenched at her sides. She emerged by Leia's left shoulder and stood up straight, staring into the throng. Then, without really thinking about it, she raised her lightsaber over her head and ignited the blade.

A hush fell over the crowd at the loud hum of the blue lightsaber. Rey gulped and turned the thing off again, satisfied with the effect that it had had. All eyes turned to her now, and she rotted around in her mind for the right words. Over the heads of her friends she could pick out Ben, and seeing his small smile sparked a little courage. Go on. You have the floor.

"I know you're scared, and I know this plan may rely on a man we've all grown to hate. And for good reason."

She looked back towards Ben, who gave her a slight scowl but nodded, egging her on. She pursed her lips and continued.

"But this is our best shot, our only shot to finish this. Please, don't you all want to be free of this? Free of the fear and the pain Hux and his minions push onto the galaxy every waking moment?"

A few mutters of agreements fluttered up.

"Leia trusts Kylo Ren. I trust Kylo Ren. If we didn't, he'd be long gone before stepping foot onto this planet. We need him right now, and if you all are willing, we can win this."

A nervous breath escaped her lips as she gazed desperately into the crowd. Though more and more heads were nodding along, the silence still blanketed the room.

"As you were," Leia said after a long pause.

One by one the troops filed through the heavy doors. Rey couldn't be absolutely sure, but an air of quiet determination flowed from every mind and body passing through the exit. A bubble of hope floated up to her heart. This was going to work. It had to.

Once the crowd dispersed, Leia and the rest of her leadership team turned back to the table and began to relate more details of their daring plan. Much to Rey's apprehension, Finn, Poe, and Rose all joined the general in the talks. Once she and Ben approached the circular stone table, her friends swiveled their heads in their direction.

Before they could say anything belittling to Ben, he stepped up to his mother and spoke up. The leadership team gave him withering looks as he opened his mouth.

"I have a request, General." The tiniest quaver rocked his voice, but he kept his gaze steady and confident.

"You may ask," Leia told him, bowing her head respectfully.

"I want to give the stormtroopers a chance. Don't kill them right away, just take them prisoner and allow them to choose a side."

He looked over at Rey, and memories of Urear streamed in front of her eyes. Of the bloody knife and the crumpled bodies. Of Jayne's snarl and the pistol aimed at her heart. There'd be no more of that, if they could help it.

"Really?" Finn asked. Gone was his defensive stance or his demeaning stare. He stepped forward and raised his eyebrows at Rey, who nodded sincerely.

"What gives you that thought, Solo?" he asked Ben, biting the inside of his cheek in thought.

"I saw you that night, in the village. I want to know if there are more of you."

Rose and Poe waited with bated breath as Finn mulled over Ben's request. Eventually Finn nodded and put his hand to his forehead.

"All right, we'll do what we can." Leia turned to her comrades for any objections but thankfully no one said a word against Ben.

"We start the diversion tomorrow morning. Ren here will surrender himself to the troops on the _Finalizer_ and bring Rey along with him when the time is right. We'll discuss the details later, everyone."

Leia waved everyone around the table away.

Poe, Finn and Rose all left in a hurry with their boots echoing across the stone floor, not even bothering to wait up for their friend. As Ben and Rey stood behind by the circular table, Finn managed to shoot a backwards glance towards the both of them before his group turned the corner.

…

A drop of rain dripped down on the cockpit glass and tricked down along the rivets of the metal frame. Rey's eyes followed the drop's progress lazily as she sat in their new freighter's pilot seat, knees tucked up to her chin and arms wrapped around her shins. Her lightsaber and yellow mask lay discarded on the dashboard next to Ben's white one.

As more raindrops followed the first, the poisonous weight in Rey's chest deepened, tears threatening to spill over. Poe, Rose, and even Finn had left her behind in that room, had sided with the crowd of onlookers on the landing platform, and were now keeping to themselves in the palace. Every particle of her being ached for their kind words and hugs and validation, but at the same time she held herself back. She'd be receiving none of those things if she actually tried to face them, to explain herself. Red and white lights danced along the control panel, one blink chasing after another.

She sensed he was there before he'd taken a step into the cockpit. That puzzle-piece feeling she'd grown accustomed to.

"I don't it's fair how they're treating you," Ben said behind her. She peered over her shoulder and smiled sadly. His eyes were kind, but a kind of fire burned behind them.

Rey nodded at him. His lips quivered, as if he were reconsidering bringing up his next point but he opened his mouth to continue. More rain fell outside.

"They're supposed to trust you, right? You've known Finn since this all started, and you seem close with Poe and Rose, too. They know how reliable you are."

Rey sighed and stood up, brushing some dirt from her arm wrappings.

"Well, if your missing friend just appeared out of the blue holding hands with a war criminal, you'd be suspicious, too."

Ben stepped forward and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. Rey couldn't help but shudder at the touch. He locked eyes with her, cocking his head slightly.

"That shouldn't matter. You should talk to them, tell them about what's going on between us but how it doesn't jeopardize anything else."

Rey placed her hands on top of his and stroked the knuckles there with her thumbs.

"I know, but—"

"But what?" he murmured, his breath warm on her skin.

She bit her lip. "What if it can never go back to how it was with them? With you?"

He nodded in understanding but leaned forward. His forehead met hers and they stood still, the lights of the control panel blinking lazily behind them and the pattering of the rain on the glass filling the silence. She breathed in shakily.

"I can't guarantee that they'll understand, but I will. I'll always be around for you," he whispered to her.

She sighed and moved her hands to his jawbone, his stubble prickly under her fingertips.

"But that doesn't mean it's no use trying. Please, see them in person." He withdrew from their forehead touch and smiled at her slightly.

That was more than enough for Rey. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned in and planted her lips on his. As he ran his large hands up and down her waist and kissed her back eagerly, all of the fear and guilt that had been piling up in her chest flowed out of her. She sighed into his mouth in relief, hoping he could sense how thankful she was for his words of encouragement.

"I'll go to them. I'll see you soon." Rey broke their kiss and shuffled out of the cockpit, leaving Ben with one last smile before jumping out of the freighter and sprinting through the rain towards the king's palace. If it hadn't been for the lamps lighting the way to the front gates, the landing platform would have been plunged into a stormy darkness. The jungle humidity clung to her skin.

The guards let her pass without a hitch. She continued her journey inside the stone halls of the castles, the wind whipping around her causing candles on their shelves to flicker.

Suddenly she caught sight of Poe's familiar brown jacket through the cracked door of a lounge.

"Guys!" She charged through the door, hair whipping around her face.

There they were, sipping on drinks and playing chess. Finn's hand hovered above his little metal game piece while Rose whipped her head around to see who it was. Poe had his arm slung over his chair and he jumped up as Rey appeared behind him.

"Rey, what is going on?" Finn was the first to move, getting up out of his seat to meet her. He held out his hands and Rey took them desperately. "First I think you're dead, now I see you getting cozy with the Supreme Leader of the First Order? And what was all that about the stormtroopers?"

Before she could answer, Rose ran up to them, putting her fists onto hips. "Rey who were those guys you had with you on that ship? Where's the _Falcon_?"

"And why are we throwing all of our lives into the hands of that psychopath?" Poe drawled from his chair.

Anxiety pulled at Rey like heavy metal chains, yanking her to the floor. She put one hand on Rose's shoulder, her other on Finn's.

"I'm so sorry I've left you guys in the dark. I couldn't talk to you and a lot has happened."

"That's for sure," Poe said as he got up and walked over to her. A dark look clouded his usually bright features.

"I want you to trust me on this one, Poe. Ben's different now, I've seen him grow with my own eyes. You know I would've killed him on the spot if I didn't trust him completely."

Her friends became silent. Now she finally had their undivided attention.

"How many times to I have to say the same thing? I want this war to end as much as anyone else, and I know you want nothing to do with B- Kylo Ren. But I want you guys back. I want to finish this with you!"

Rey could feel the thrumming of her pulse along her neck. She looked to each of their faces, desperate for a smile, an apology, anything. Without warning Finn shot forward and buried Rey in a massive hug. For a moment Rey didn't move a muscle, surprise freezing her in place. Then she got a hold of herself and hugged back as fiercely as she could.

Now she could feel Rose's arms encircling her waist. She managed to pat the girl's hand affectionately.

Now Poe was trying to hug all of them at once, grunting when his arms didn't reach all the way around all his friends.

"We missed you, Rey. We're so sorry, we just got nervous you were never coming back the same way," Rose cried.

"It's all alright," Finn chided her as Rey slipped out of the hug and wiped at her eyes. "As long as Ren keeps in line we shouldn't have a problem. Welcome back, Jedi Master."

"Well, I for one want to know what the absolute hell is going on." Poe gestured to the lounge table offering a seat to Rey. "Here, I'll make you a drink while you start on what you've been up to with the Supreme Leader."

Rey let out a breathy laugh and plopped down by the chess board. Poe busied himself at the counter in the corner while Finn and Rose sat on either side of her, chins propped up on their fists. It was a story they wanted and a story they'd get.

Rey spread out her fingers in front of her and took a deep breath. "Well, it all started when the Falcon went down..."

 **Author's Note:** Peeps, I am SO sorry this took three months, but I haven't had the free time or the brain cells to really get chapters out this summer. Good news is I'm back at school and i hope I can post more! Thank you all so much for your faves and follows, it really means a lot!


	18. An Unorthodox Infiltration

Chapter 18

An Unorthodox Infiltration

Leia had lent him a throwaway shuttle to turn himself in with. It waited for him at the furthermost edge of the landing platform, pieces of metal sticking out and rusty from the humid jungle climate.

While he made his way to his ship, dozens of Resistance troops swarmed past him, chinks of early morning sunlight reflecting off of their pilot suits and holstered blasters. Though space on the wooden deck was scarce, they somehow managed to keep at least a two-foot radius clear around him. Part of him didn't mind the extra space, but still… it did nothing for his morale. Even with his light saber clipped to his belt and his usual dark robes covering him from neck to toe, he marveled at the vulnerability still clinging at him.

"Ben."

Even though she didn't shout, he could hear Rey clearly over the din, as if through a comm system. As he turned around, he saw her gliding towards him. Her new outfit draped over her elegantly, all flowing white fabric held to her by the usual brown straps and belts. Her saber was strapped behind her back, ready to be whipped out and ignited.

"Rey," he answered, but couldn't speak any more than that, for she sprinted towards him and crushed his chest in a huge hug. He let out a small grunt but returned her embrace. Taking in the clean scent of her hair and the beautifully rough scars on her hands filled him up to the brim with a new, brighter courage.

"You think we can do this?" he asked her, peering down into her sparkling brown eyes.

"Of course, we can, Solo. What, you think we're going to let you down?" Finn had appeared behind them with Rose and Poe in tow.

He cleared his throat and shook his head, pushing away from Rey suddenly. Poe raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"If Starkiller is anything to go by, this'll end in a lot of smoke and debris," Ben replied.

"But with us winning still," Rose grinned, nudging Poe playfully in the ribs.

"Keep her safe, you got that?" Poe asked. He crossed his arms over the buttons on his flight suit.

Irritation lashed up through Ben, but he didn't take the bait. Instead he said, "I won't let you down."

The pilot nodded, seemingly satisfied.

Rey looked between her friends and Ben nervously but loosened her shoulders when none of them appeared aggressive to one another.

Then Finn held out his hand to Ben, his expression neutral, which is all Ben could have asked for.

"It's means a lot to me. What you said back at that meeting."

"Thanks." They shook hands. Damn, that stormtrooper training wasn't for nothing, he had a grip of steel.

"Hopefully we'll see you at the field when you two finish up," Rose told them, and with that Rey's friends turned and hustled away, the pilot joining the rest of his comrades by the parked x-wings.

An all-too-familiar roar reached Ben's ears. Rey whipped her head around and gasped happily.

Chewie waded through the throng of soldiers, calling and bleating to the pair of them. Rey ran from Ben into the Wookie's waiting arms while Ben waited behind, unsure of how to act.

His father's best friend. His uncle, basically. How would he react to seeing his friend's murderer here, among his friends? How could Ben make it up to him.

Chewie hugged Rey tightly in his hairy arms then let her down sweetly, now turning to him.

His dark eyes met Ben's. He felt like his entire soul was being read like a book, not unlike the effect his mother had on him.

Suddenly the Wookie roared and swept him up in a rib-cracking hug. Even Ben's large stature was dwarfed by the Wookie's massive body. Resting in his arms again flung him back into old memories with Chewie, of him nestled in his hands as a baby, of him sitting on his shoulders, laughing as his family took long walks through the courtyard of their home.

A tear trickled down his cheek, but he let it be, throwing his arms around his old friend.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled.

Chewie nodded and let out a small grunt, as if in understanding. They both pulled away, but not without a last shoulder pat from the Wookie.

"You'd better be on your way." Rey looked over her shoulder. Ships now lifted off from the platform, scattering heat all across the wooden planks and rustling the leaves of the jungle trees. Ben's hair flew around his face.

Rey's hands parted his mess of locks, though, as she swooped in for a last-minute kiss on his cheek.

"Good luck. Maybe after this we can head back to Nov Sensum for a visit," he said to her. Fidgeting with the lightsaber on his belt, he clicked the cockpit doors of his shuttle open and stepped inside, his cape swirling around the dust that had unsettled at his arrival.

Her smile was the last thing he saw before shutting the door between them.

A few button clicks and switch flicks had the engine up and running. Slowly but surely, the old bird rose up into the air and began to hurtle away from the surface of the planet.

They had also supplied him with the First Order's frequencies so he could radio them ahead of time. As his ship sailed through Raspitar's outer atmosphere, he managed to connect with one of the communications officers on board the Finalizer.

"This is Kylo Ren," he stated matter-of-factly. "Tell your General Hux that I'm surrendering myself to the First Order."

…

The big bad of all the destroyers, Hux's flagship, the Finalizer, now hovered above him like a monstrous bird of prey. Comparing it to the power and finesse of Snoke's old ship was like comparing a blaster gun to a blast from the Death Star. But if Hux was still on board like Ben remembered the thing was not to be underestimated.

The TIE fighters on patrol had allowed him to maneuver his ship past theirs to the main bridge, where he picked out hundreds of stormtroopers marching in formation along the shiny dark floor, looking like tiny mites. Soaring through the life support barrier, he initiated the landing gear and took the clunky old shuttle down to the ground. Already the lines of stormtroopers filed down the platform to meet him, blasters at the ready. If only he'd have his royal guards to back him up, but they were down on the down with Rey and the others. Their presence here would not bode well with their plan, anyway.

"Here we go," Ben braced himself. Stepping out of the pilot's seat he pressed the button to operate the door, when lowered itself down with an ancient hiss. He focused on morphing the expression on his face into something more Kylo Ren-like, with his old scowl and burning eyes.

As soon as he descended the ramp the clicks of raised blasters met his ears. A sweat began to form along his brow despite the brave face he put on. On the beach he'd blocked the laserfire coming towards them with a significant effort, but with even more guns trained on his chest, would he be able to protect himself?

A few of the stormtroopers have shuffled aside for two black-clad figures strolling towards him. He gritted his teeth at the familiar blonde bob of one and the tall, red-headed figure of the other.

Hux and Penma stopped a few yards away from him, both brandishing small blasters, the standard issue for high-ranking officials who needing a little extra protection hiding in their coat pockets. Her black eye had almost faded completely, but a few cuts along her jawline still remained from their encounter on Mer'in.

"Still playing the coward?" he called to her, remembering how the colonel had crouched behind a wooden sign like a child, waving her soldiers on to do the dirty work. Maybe it was his imagination, but he felt a few of the stormtroopers shift uneasily as if they partially agreed with him.

"So, you were the man under that mask." She trotted forward until she was but a few feet away, sneering up at him. "Brave words from a man with a death wish at the mercy of the most powerful order in the galaxy."

The woman huffed in a satisfied way, throwing a glance up Hux's way, like a pet begging for attention from its owner.

Hux said nothing but stepped forward, his boots clacking against the floor of the deck. He still looked exactly the same, with his hair so gelled up it practically shone in the bright glare of lights overhead. Not a wrinkle or patch of dust scuffed up his uniform. It seemed that the increase of his power only fluffed up his appearance.

A few TIE fighters scraped the air above them as Hux strode over to Ben, who waited despite every nerve screaming at him to leap forward and wring the little weasel by his neck. The general wore a look of contemplation.

"You're here to surrender, according to our communications officers," he stated neutrality.

"Could it have been any more obvious?"

An ugly grimace crossed Hux's face, but he managed to keep it under control. "What happened to your little desert rat? Surely she wouldn't leave you at a time like this. Thick as thieves, I've heard from the reports of the masked figures."

As much as Ben wished to prove his love for Rey here and not, now was not the time. They couldn't suspect a thing if their plan was going to work. He swallowed his pride.

"She went back to the Resistance," Ben willed all of the emotion and pain he could muster into his voice. "I knew it was a matter of time before you caught up to me. Before her Resistance dogs chased me down. And I didn't want it to end with her there."

He found himself flashing back to the burning throne room. How he and Rey had grappled over the lightsaber, over her allegiance. The hurt that arose from her pained expression, of her hand outstretched only to take herself away still thrummed through him like an aftershock, and he used it to his advantage.

But Rey was somewhere, waiting for him. None of that mattered now but in this place, among his enemies who didn't know their full story.

A moment passed before Hux dipped his chin down to his collar and smiled, appearing to be suppressing a laugh. The stormtroopers aiming their guns at Ben dropped their aim and looked toward their general, curiosity getting the better of them.

"It's quite ironic, really. All of these people in your past and now none of them can hold their faith in you."

Rough hands seized Ben by his shoulders and forced him to his knees. A surge of panic rose up in his throat when the cold metallic clasp of handcuffs slapped down around his wrists. The familiar weight of his lightsaber disappeared from his belt.

"Sir!" A young, petite officer ran towards their group, sweat dripping from their brow.

Hux waited her the woman to catch her breath, then she continued her message.

"We've detected a signal coming from Raspitar's surface. They say Leia and her troops wish to battle on the far side of the planet."

After a few moments Hux waved his hand. "Send the bulk of our ground troops down with a couple of TIE fighters to sweep up. I'll be joining you in a moment after I'm finished with this traitor."

Already the hiss of First Order shuttles and TIE fighters rattled the dock as more and more stormtroopers poured in. Ben watched, secretly smug. Good. He had taken the bait.

"So, you've been down there to the planet's surface and seen our precious princess, have you not?" Hux nodded to the stormtroopers holding him and they jerked Ben up and forward. He even had to employ a bit of Force power to keep himself from falling flat on his face.

"If you want me to tell you anything, you're going to be sorely disappointed," Ben told him as he, Hux, Penma, and the guards stepped onto the nearest turbolift and began their ascension. The air turned stiff and hot the longer their group stood still in that compartment.

"And why is that?"

"They didn't give me information. No positions, no numbers, nothing."

"Oh, I didn't even think of the possibility of you knowing anything of actual importance. No, I want something a little different from you."

Ben shut his mouth and didn't ask what Hux wanted but decided to go with the flow. The Force worked around him here. Telling him to hold back and listen and keep a low profile. Everything will work itself out in the end, something in his gut told him. Even as he glanced down worriedly at his confiscated lightsaber in the grip of a stormtrooper, he willed himself to follow that passive feeling, to trust his friends down in the jungle.

They had arrived in a place Ben certainly hadn't been expecting. The large black doors to Hux's private quarters met his eyes as soon as the turbolift spat them out onto a different floor of the destroyer. They filed a short distance to the doors, where they opened silently to allow their party in.

Clean white light shone throughout the grand space of Hux's quarters. A dark wooden desk dominated one corner while a small, tasteful kitchenette stood at another. Some straight-backed chairs huddled in the center of the main room. A couple of locked doors hid what Ben assumed to be his bedroom and bathroom.

Ben's gaze quickly fell to the orange ball of fur asleep on the kitchen counter. Millicent the cat was spilled out over a cutting board, her stomach rising and falling peacefully. He sighed through his nose as he watched her: just a day or two ago he'd been as carefree as that cat, waking up next to Rey after that golden night by the sea.

"Sit him here." Hux motioned to a chair in front of his desk. Rough hands pushed Ben down into the chair while Hux strolled behind the desk and slid into his seat. After removing his coat and throwing it over the back of his chair, he knitted his fingers together and peered over his knuckles at his captive.

"Wine?" he asked. He opened a drawer and pulled out a small green bottle with two thin-stemmed glasses.

Ben scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. Hux shrugged and opened the bottle with a pop, letting the golden liquid inside to flow into one glass, then the other. The troopers standing on either side of him remained motionless, as if this were any day on the job.

"Why?" Ben asked simply. He yanked at the cuffs around his wrists, anger rising in him at the bite of the steel around his flesh.

Hux looked up from his wine and bit at his lip with a small smile. "Because I've won," he replied.

Following his instinct from the turbolift, Ben kept silent and waited for Hux's clarification. What he needed was more time.

"You could have killed me the second you walked onto this destroyer, but you didn't. Whatever your reasons for turning yourself in, you don't seem to be going back on them."

He leaned back in his chair and lazily ran his fingers up and down his glass. "And I've received a call from the Resistance saying they want a battle. Well, we'll give them a battle alright. And when the ashes are cold and the ships are rusted down, I'll be the one on top."

He swallowed all of his wine in one hard gulp, wiping his lips on the back of his black gloves. Penma beamed at him.

"Why am I here?" Ben asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you all that over some wine. Nothing like a chat with a nice bottle of Dantooine's finest sitting in between."

Blood pounded against the inside of Ben's skull. The man, this rabid cur, as Snoke had called him, still pushed all the right buttons to set him off. Even with the changes in his life, the love he had been so graciously given, Hux somehow still knew how to break him down like back in the good old days of Supreme Leader Snoke.

"Are you sure you won't want any?" Hux asked politely, gesturing to the full glass still in front of him. "It may be your last."

Ben sat unperturbed and glared down at the general, lips locked and hands daintily in his lap. This wouldn't be his last drink if Rey had anything to say about it, not even close.

"Suit yourself, then. More for me." He snatched the second glass of wine and chugged it back as quickly as the first.

As soon as the last drop was drained, a black-clad officer burst in through the door, panting and wide-eyed.

"Sir, the Resistance forces below have taken out our heavy artillery!" the young man shouted.

Hux launched himself from his seat. "What?" he growled.

"We need reinforcements. What is your plan?"

Penma looked at Hux worriedly. Her guards shifted around nervously once more.

To Ben's delight Hux sighed and stomped around his desk, throwing him a scathing look before turning his attention to the officer.

"I'll accompany you to the bridge. If we're going to take any more action, I want to be there to oversee it."

Hux gestured to Penma, who snapped her heels together in attention. "Take this traitor down to the interrogation wing. We'll keep him there until we resolve the situation and afterwards…" A cruel smile curled the general's lips and his cold blue eyes flashed. "I'll be able to do whatever I want to you. Now you're finally out of my way, and I'll find ways to celebrate."

With one last swirl of his cloak, Hux was gone. The guards lifted Ben up from his chair and walked him out the door and down to glaring hall back to the turbolift, Penma trailing closely behind and tapping her fingers on her holopad.

Good, so he'd be alone in a quiet little room sealed off from the rest of the ship. Rey could appear to him then without distraction and they could dash to the main bridge. Hux and his closest officers would be taken care of before any more people could get hurt.

With a hiss the turbolift's doors opened, a dark, barred hallway that he had walked down many a time, dressed in his sweeping robes, hood, and his mask. Just remembering the snap of the fabric around his heels brought the distant screams of long-dead prisoners ringing in his ears. He shuddered involuntarily against his handcuffs.

But that was all behind him now, and soon even the First Order would turn into just a galaxy-wide bad memory. He lowered his head and smirked at the thought.

A door on their right slid open to reveal a cold, barren room, save for a wicked metal contraption in the center of the floor. The very same machine that had held Poe Dameron captive, then Rey, on Starkiller Base.

"Lock him down," Penma instructed the stormtrooper guards. They nodded in unison and threw Ben into the chair. Immediately they set about undoing his handcuffs and slamming his wrists into the restraints.

Now he found himself panting and writhing, his arms trapped at his sides and legs locked into place. His hair had fallen into his eyes but he couldn't reach up to brush it out of the way.

"Close the door," the colonel told the guard closest to the door. He obeyed and sealed their group from the rest of the hallway.

"You know, I never really trusted you, Ren." Ben watched in confusion as Penma slowly slid off her gloves and handed them delicately to a stormtrooper.

She approached her former Supreme Leader. Her small hands balled into fists and she raised them to her chest, blonde hair falling around her livid face.

Pain erupted in Ben's jaw as the colonel swung at his face. His head whipped to the side and he let out a surprised grunt.

"But I still wished that what Hux told me about you wasn't true. I wanted you to be there for us! To build a new, untouchable order for the rest of us!"

Another blow landed on his cheekbone and another on his eye.

"You—" Another hit. "Betrayed—" Another. "Us! And you betrayed—" Another punch to his jaw. "Me!"

It took every ounce of Ben's self-control not to throw this woman up into the air and across the room. He needed to wait and bear it, for Rey's sake.

Penma stepped back, breathing heavily. She shook out her fists and flex her fingers.

"Maybe I shouldn't have gone for the face. Hux will start to ask questions. But perhaps he won't mind."

Ben breathed in and out, concentrating on that stillness, that wall of silence that proceeded a Force bond episode. If she could just appear right now, he could get out of this mess and start their mission.

But nothing came. She wasn't here. Sweat built up in his gloves and he looked around wildly. He searched for a flash of her robes, a strand of her hair, anything.

Something flashed up on Penma's holopad and she nodded gloomily. He reached for her gloves and the guards placed them back in her hand.

"Looks like duty calls, Ren." She stomped away from him with their escorts.

Just as Ben was prepared to let out a sigh of relief, the colonel stopped in the doorway. The click of metal echoed through the room as her pistol leveled itself at his forearm.

"Maybe a little graze on your arm couldn't hurt." She giggled and her finger wrapped around the trigger. "Well, not me, at least."

Panic fell on Ben full force, and he willed up all of his strength to stop any blast coming his way. But with his hands pinned, could he…?

"Ben!"

Rey ran into his line of sight as silence engulfed him. Some of her hair was sticking out of her buns and her lightsaber staff was ignited in her hands. She met his eyes and dashed towards him.

"Rey, take my hand!" Ben shouted, splaying his fingers to the best of his ability. His heart leapt at the sight of her, the light in the dark, brooding space.

"What in the name of…!" Penma yelled as her guards aimed their blasters in every direction. "Who's he talking to?!"

Rey's warm fingertips met his and the room rippled.


	19. A Last Resort

Chapter 19

A Last Resort

If hell could exist, Rey was pretty sure that this would be it.

It was the waiting that killed her. Sweat from her hands beaded her lightsaber staff and the humid air hugged at her clothes like someone had tightened a rope around her body. Outside the grimy windows lay a green clearing littered with logs and vines, bathed in sunlight. Leia told them to stay out in the open. If anything could attract the First Order forces like moths to a flame, it would be a totally obvious strategy that guaranteed their victory. Only when they had touched down would they turn to more deceptive measures.

Finn, Chewie, and Rose stood by beside her in the cockpit of the transport. Determination was bolted to each of their faces. For them, this was their last stand, the end of a saga. Rey envied them a bit, for she'd have a lot more work to do after this battle.

Around them soldiers shifted nervously. Some fidgeted with the holsters on their hips, others chatted amongst themselves quietly. Some even exchanged money from pocket to pocket, betting on their odds.

"Are we sure those cannons are going to work?" Finn asked, sweat dripping from his brow. He was referring to the long line of primal-looking stone cylinders mounted on wooden stands, hiding just inside the branches of the tree line. Rey just couldn't wrap her mind around tech not made of metal, like the stuff she'd worked with her whole life. In terms of looks they didn't promise as much as a typical ship's cannons, but if King Canaan insisted, they could deal some amount of damage.

"The king swore by them. It's how they've been untouched for the past hundred years," Rose reassured him, bumping him on the shoulder kindly. "We're going to get through this, Finn, I truly believe it."

The two clasped their hands together. Rey and Chewie stared straight ahead, letting them have their privacy.

"I hope Ben's alright," Rey wondered aloud. Chewie met her concern with a soft growl.

"You're right, he's held out for this long," she agreed.

Maybe it was the presence of her comrades around her, or maybe it was the flatness of the plain outside. A wall of déjà vu slapped her across the face and she physically jolted where she stood.

This was almost identical to the beginning of her force vision within the waterfall. Sure, this planet differed from the grassier Nov Sensum, but everything else matched up. This battle, this group of people, even her white robes were dropped straight out of her vision.

But if the planet then wasn't the same, what drew the line between what she saw and what lay in front of her?

Ben. He had been here since their shared waterfall trance. He had stuck by her, faced his past and his present without ducking out or running away. Now that she had begun fitting the puzzle pieces together, the meaning of the draining colors also hit her: if he had left her, so would have the hues of the galaxy, of her friends and of her home.

"Rey, are you alright?" Rose peered around to ask her, her dark bangs swaying around her face.

Without her noticing, a tear had trickled down her cheek. She hurriedly brushed it away.

"I'm okay, Rose. Promise."

Rey closed her eyes and promised Ben the biggest kiss of his life when she next saw him again on the _Finalizer_.

The doors of the transport snapped open and the hot jungle winds slapped their faces. Rey ignited her staff and her friends readied their blasters. All at once they and the rest of the ground forces filed out of their ships.

Sunlight assaulted her eyes, causing her to blink rapidly. Through her eyelashes dozens of other troops poured out in the transports alongside them.

The destroyers descended out of the thick jungle atmosphere like massive ghosts and from their bellies spilled dozens of TIE fighters, their engines roaring from even here on the ground. The bulkier shapes of First Order transports also bared down upon them, undoubtedly holding huge numbers of stormtroopers calling for their blood.

"Keep going!" Rey yelled to the rest of her group, paving her way to the front and breaking into a sprint.

Soon a volley of laser fire rained down upon them, but she and the rest of the Resistance were ready. They split up into small teams and fled across the grassy clearing. As Leia had explained to them, it was harder to shoot the smaller and smaller the size the group of targets is.

Rey, Chewie, Finn, and Rose all kept together while heading to the western end of the field. The ex-stormtrooper and maintenance worker set their sights on the nearest TIE fighter. They yelled like barbarians as the spherical metal hull bared down on them and the shot their blasters in quick succession. With a mighty bang, the hull exploded and veered away from them, crashing down a safe distance away.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Finn laughed, and Rose shrieked with glee.

Some of the First Order shuttles had just touched down on the ground, and a sea of white spilled from their open bay doors. Stormtroopers, armed to the teeth and sprinting for their lives, had arrived on the scene. Broken trunks of trees and boulder chunks provided Rey's enemies with easy protection, and already they started to dive behind various covers.

Rey, almost blinded by the sunlight, could just pick out small silver boxes dangling some of the troopers' belts. She'd never seen anything like them before. What were they? Medical supplies? A new weapon fresh out of the First Order's labs? They'd have to wait and see what kind of danger they'd pose.

A jarring rumble blazed to life behind the tree line. Rey and her friends swiveled their gazes towards the sky. Flashes of orange and white whizzed past, shaking the very air itself. Red lasers met green, and one by one TIE fighters were shot down. Whistles of howling wind through charred hulls and wings soon filled the clearing. She could practically hear Poe whooping with glee in his cockpit right above them.

But the way the TIEs moved suggested something else going on. Some of the shuttles floated in place above the battle and the faster, smaller TIE fighters seemed to be working to protect them.

They didn't have much time to celebrate any more, however. The lasers from the oncoming TIE fighters were soon paired with blasts issued from the stormtroopers on the ground. Their Resistance fighters stood their ground, but the fighting soon proved to be way too thick for some. Cries rose up around Rey.

"There!" Rose shouted over the din. She had her finger locked on a fallen tree about four feet in diameter, a great place for cover. They sprinted over and slammed their backs against the chipped bark.

Rey popped up from time to time to deflect a few blasts back but couldn't quite pinpoint a good escape route. Sure, the X-wings above were clearing the skies above them as best they could, but they needed something else down here.

"Stay down!" she shouted to her friends. As soon as they nodded their acknowledgement, Rey bit her lip and peered to her right. There, that's where she'd try it. Time to experiment a little bit.

With all her might she whipped her saber staff out of her hands in a swiping arc. The stormtroopers watched in awe as Rey closed her eyes and thrust out her arm.

Her breathing slowed in her chest as she focused, each inhale and exhale passing thoughtfully through her. She could feel her staff moving the air around it. Now it was just a matter of keeping it on course.

Blades whizzed and rippled as the staff dipped and spun towards the enemy wave. It slipped down and whirled across each ankle and knee with deadly accuracy.

A collective screech rose up from the troopers and one by one they collapsed to their knees. Rey opened her eyes once more to catch her staff firmly in her hand. A couple of quick pants escaped her; sure, it wasn't a huge move, but it exhausted her mentally, nonetheless.

"Take their weapons away," she instructed a dazed Rose and Finn, who peeked over the fallen tree truck with awestruck gazes. Chewie roared and followed her order immediately. He strutted along the groaning soldiers and snatches up their blasters in his furry paws until his arms were full of weapons.

Once their area appeared to be safe, Rey marched forward and turned her lightsaber off. The fallen stormtroopers stared up at her while clutching at their grazed legs and hips.

"We're not going to kill you if you don't kill us," Finn said behind her, a careful hand on his holstered blaster. "We can get you out of here if you surrender."

"Why are you doing this?" a voice wavered over to Rey's right. She turned to watch one of the stormtroopers slip her helmet off to reveal a young, thin faced young man with skin as pale as milk.

"Why keep us alive? You know one side or the other goes in the end," the man restated.

Finn shrugged and nodded to Rose. He gazed down at the stormtrooper. "I was one of you once, and these guys still took me in. I want to extend that courtesy to the rest of you."

The man shook his head, his expression dazed with confusion and pain. The rest of his comrades gazed at one another, nodding slowly.

"Finn, Rose, take them back to the transports. They can wait there till this is all over," Rey told her friends.

They nodded in unison. Rose held out an outstretched hand to the unmasked trooper. He took it with a fraction of hesitation. Soon all of the soldiers were on their feet and slowly marching towards the safety of the transport ships. Dark mutters rose up, but they seemed to be falling in line.

"Why aren't those ships landing?"

Finn pointed to the First Order shuttles still hovering in the sky like birds of prey.

"The silver cases! Watch out for them!" The pale stormtrooper shouted with a grunt over his shoulder as Rose led him away. "They're controlling them remotely."

"Controlling what?" Rey asked herself. Chewie roared nervously and he dropped his payload of stolen blasters.

As if on cue loud mechanical whirs met their ears. As some of the troopers laid down some protective fire, the others were squatting low and tending to the cases attached to their hips. They threw the boxes on the ground and, before their eyes, something metallic and bright zoomed out of them at breakneck speed. They were long and cylindrical, like giant robotic worms.

"They're droids!" Rey shouted to her friends, twirling her lightsaber in preparation.

Instead of flying towards them like she would have expected, the new droids dove their pointed heads into the ground and began to tunnel under the planet's surface.

The Resistance fighters started to panic. Some aimed their blasters at the ground and pounded shot after shot into the moist soil. But the droids seemed just out of range, for they began to burst out with dull thuds. They snaked around the ankles and calves of the Resistance ground troops, their legs were twisted, and their bodies were flung to the ground. This distraction gave the troopers enough time to aim at the fallen enemy and fire without fail.

Rey flung her head around this way and that and watched helplessly as her troops collapsed around them. It was almost brilliant, really. These droids weren't built to attack explicitly, but to confuse and trap the Resistance.

What had that stormtrooper said? That the droids were being controlled remotely?

"The cannons," Rey whispered to herself. She turned to Chewie and Finn. "The king's cannons! We need them to take out those shuttles. We shoot the shuttles, we stop the droids."

Finn and Chewie exchanged worried glances, then nodded.

"How are we going to tell them what's happening when we could wind up tangled in those things?" Finn asked, wiping the sweat away from his brow.

"We keep moving. I'll tell you where to go." Cold sweat ran down Rey's back, different from the sweat shed by exertion. She could tap into the Force and sense the droids coming, but would she be able to steer her friends clear of danger?

Her heel planted into the ground and she took off running. Finn and Chewie followed close behind, their toes almost snapping at her heels. The tree line, that's where they needed to go. Canaan's forces were lying in wait there, just out of sight and mind.

Once the burrowing droids had hit the scene, the battlefield had descended into pure chaos around them. Resistance soldiers yelled and crumpled to the ground as coils of metal clung to their legs. Red lasers met green overhead as the TIEs and the X-wings faced off under the blazing jungle sun. Despite all this Rey kept her head down and her arms and legs pumping with everything she had, keeping her focus in front of her.

An itch in the back of her brain alerted her. She screeched to an almost complete stop before setting off at a forty-five degree angle to her left. Behind her Finn and Chewie followed suit and she heard Finn shriek in surprise as the burrowing droids unearthed themselves a few feet away, swinging their tendrils into the air. Another few steps to the right and the three of them would have been laser fodder for the advancing stormtroopers.

The shadows of the towering trees engulfed them, but that didn't slow Rey's pace in the slightest. Looking wildly above her, she shouted, "We need the cannons! Aim for the idle shuttles, they're controlling the droids out there!"

Chewie roared in agreement and fired his bowcaster over his shoulder. The impact of the laser blasted a jagged hole into the vine-covered truck of a tree, sending a cloud of woodchips out and blocking the stormtrooper's view.

One of the king's Dorjaak subjects jumped to a lower tree branch above their heads. His tail straightened behind him and his dim yellow eyes grew wide with understanding. He threw back his head and let out a strangled meow into the foliage around him. Slowly, rustling noises drifted down above Rey and her friends. The rest of the soldiers up there were readying themselves, but she couldn't really see through the leaves.

Then the long, stone snout of a cannon, dense with detailed carvings, emerged from the top of the treeline. As they watched from the ground, more and more nozzles poked out to join the first. Gears clocked and mechanisms growled, like a gigantic droid had perched in the branches above them.

"Aim for the shuttles!" Rey shouted again, pointing the burning tip of her lightsaber into the sky. Her teeth gritted and her breath came out in short bursts through her nose

"I'm coming, Ben, I'll be there soon…" she whispered to herself.

Pap. Pap pap pap pap.

Violet blurs erupted from the cannon's nozzles faster than Rey could follow with her eyes. Finn and Chewie watched dumbfounded beside her, breathing heavy and lowering their weapons. Reaching out with the Force, she sensed air rushing impossibly fast across fat, black stones, streaked with ribbons of purple. So, they didn't use laser technology? At least not in the conventional way.

The effect of the blasts was almost instantaneous. The cannon shells ripped through the hulls of the floating shuttles like a lightsaber through steel. Pink sparks cascaded from the blasted points and smoke rose up as the shuttles fell to earth. Shouts of alarm reached Rey's ears and the footfalls of fleeing Resistance troops.

The burrowing droids seemed to screech like dying animals as they twitched and sagged to the ground, their connection severed with cannonfire.

A familiar female voice cut through the noise: "Move it, troopers, we can bring you to safety if you move your asses!"

Ames stumbled out of the cloud of gray smoke with an injured stormtrooper slung over her shoulder. Close behind her follow Sestro and Joran. They waved the rest of the defecting stormtroopers on towards the safety of the trees.

The droids were gone, most of the First Order forces had been captured or convinced to join the other side. Rey planted her feet into the damp soil and watched the beautiful carnage.

"Enjoying the view?" Eloisa popped up beside her, twirling her spear in her skilled hands. The tip of the blade crackled with energy.

"I just hope this was enough to distract them," she hoped.

"It will be if you get yourself up there in time."

"You're right." Rey took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Concentrate. You want to be where he is. Draw the line, cross the bridge.

"Don't worry. You guys have this. You have this." Eloisa put a gloved hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. Her dark eyes sparkled knowingly "Just get back in one piece, got it?"

"Right." Rey smiled. She swiped a hand over her hair and felt a few strands come loose. She must look like a wreck, but that didn't matter.

She opened her eyes and there he was, a couple yards away.

Strapped to a chair and bruised around his eye, his wide brown eyes met hers.

"Ben!" Rey cried, running towards him.

"Rey! Take my hand!" He reached out and Rey clasped his hand as hard as she could.

The hot, humid jungle climate around her whisked itself away, now replaced with a cold, sterile air. She was on the _Finalizer_ at last. But she wasn't the only one in this room.

The officers gasped and Penma let out an angry screech.

"How—Why…? Why is she here?!" she belted, reaching inside her jacket pocket for her blaster.

Rey's eyes widened in understanding, she wrenched her hand out of Ben's and whipped it around to the enemies blocking the door. Penma's blaster flew from her grip and soared around the tiny room, knocking into both officers' heads and rendering them unconscious. Before the colonel could utter any word of warning, Rey raised her hand once more.

The woman went as stiff as a board with her mouth clamped shut and her hands locked into fists by her sides.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Rey warned, then she squeezed her hand into a fist. Penma's eyes fluttered shut as she slithered to the cold hard ground, unconscious.

Rey fiddled with the chair's controls and managed to spring the clasps on Ben's wrists and ankles up. He stood himself up warily, rubbing at his hands. Red-hot pride flowed through him.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" she cried, clasping her hands earnestly. "It's hell down there and I couldn't concentrate and—"

The rest of her apology was cut off as he leaned in for a deep, passionate kiss. His hand curled around her jaw and she gripped his arm like a lifeline, his sigh drifting along her skin. Eventually they had to break apart to catch their breath.

"Looks like you beat me to it," she admitted bashfully.

"Only because you were so late," he replied sarcastically.

"Right, so what's the plan?" Rey asked, steering herself back on track. "I see we've already got a couple to bodies on our hands." She gestured to the unconscious forms of Penma and her officers, sprawled out ungracefully before them.

Rey caught sight of Ben's lightsaber and floated it over to him. He caught the handle with no effort, as if he'd held the weapon for a thousand years

"Thanks," he said, then closed his eyes, concentrating. "Hux should be on the main bridge, giving out orders with the rest of his dogs. If we're quiet enough, we won't have any more people to hide."

They both let out a mutual sigh, then eyed each other with determination. Rey slung her lightsaber over her head and nodded.

They crept out of the interrogation room, the door sliding over Penma and the others and blocking them from sight. Rey couldn't help but glance over her shoulder one more time at her, replaying their battles in his memory. She gave her a silent, not-so-fond farewell before jogging away, hand in hand with Ben.

Black-and-white hallways crisscrossed in front of them, corridors winding into each other like a labyrinth. If Ben hadn't prowled around the _Finalizer_ as much as he had in the past, there would be no way he could remember his way to the bridge.

Much to their delight, no guards met to greet them on their walk to the turbolift. Things had turned sour on Raspitar, after all, and they needed all of the troops they could get.

Once they were in sight of the turbolift, however, their luck had run out.

Four troopers in full gear turned around at the sound of their footsteps.

"Blast them!" nearly blocked out the loud "Dammit!" Rey shouted as they jumped behind the cover of a large doorway.

When Ben had summoned enough bravery he stepped out, twirling his lightsaber. Concentrate. Feel the blasts through the air. Not a single one should be missed.

One by one the green lasers met his violet lightsaber blade and were deflected into the surrounding walls and floor, hissing and spitting. The soldiers slowly lost ground as shots backfired in their direction. Rey trotted up behind him and watched his six, her lightsaber at the ready.

The stormtroopers crumpled to the floor with some well-timed shots to their legs. They lay there twitching on the ground while Ben and Rey stormed past.

The pair arrived in what appeared to be one of the major control centers of the ship. Long black columns of machinery rose from the floor hundreds of feet below them and towered into the ceiling. Little red lights blinked on and off under sterile lights from above. Only a slim walkway with branching paths showed themselves, high above the collecting fog that swirled just out of reach.

"Watch your step," Rey warned him, but he didn't need her to see how dangerous this place could be. One misstep and you were a goner, anyone with a brain would tell immediately.

Rey took his hand and, praying that no more troops would spring on them, they trotted across the beams, boots rattling the grates below them.

"He's just up ahead, I can sense it," Ben shouted behind her.

Rey reached out but felt nothing. She assumed that because of their rocky history Ben seemed more in tune with his frequency.

"We'll get him, don't worry."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that." Even without seeing his face she could tell that his teeth were locked together in a grimace.

A door materialized out of the gloom and Rey bit at her tongue as she quickened her pace. Ben's hand clenched hers.

"Rey."

She turned to look at him. His eyes, dark brown and impossibly deep, bore into hers. He looked afraid.

"I can't promise I'll restrain myself in there. It's Hux, you know that. I just wanted to say something before…"

Rey smiled sadly to herself, then met his fearful gaze. "I wasn't expecting you to hold back."

"Really?"

"This is a man who continued to tear up the galaxy even after you wiped Snoke out. I know how close this is to you, so don't be afraid of my getting angry."

She had told him to hold back instead of lashing out, to consider his options and then execute on them. But now was the time to put those lessons on hold. This man had to go down.

Ben slammed the door open and they ducked inside.

Black-capped heads swiveled towards them as desk jockey officers took notice of the intruders. Blinking consoles and huge supercomputers surrounded a main table about thirty feet long. All around the dark wood sat the rest of Hux's commanding officers. Some froze in their seats while others wore expressions of pure misery. And at the head of the table, of course, was the general himself, gazing pensively out of the glass window onto the main dock below.

"As you can see, we're losing the fight down there. They've figured out how our droids were functioning, and—" One of the officers stalled on his battle report at the sound of their new guests.

As soon as Rey and Ben readied their blades and began to bore down on the commanding officers, Hux whipped his head around and let out a high-pitched yell.

"Get these dogs off of my ship!" he shrieked. The general of the First Order threw himself to the ground with a thunk, leaving the rest of his people confused and helpless.

The rattle of unholstered blasters rang in Rey's ears. The next thing she knew barrels pointed at their chests.

For a few moments nobody moved a muscle. Only the buzz of Rey's and Ben's lightsaber blades penetrated the deadly quiet.

Suddenly one operator sprang up from his seat and rushed past Rey to the exit. Ben did a double take over his shoulder.

Hux peeked over the edge of his table as the rest of the desk jockeys rose from their seats and filed out of the door as quickly as they could manage. Dozens of boots scuffed the polished floor on their way out. The battle on Raspitar had gone sideways and it seemed appropriate for the lackeys to leave when they still had the chance to run from the Resistance.

Only Rey, Ben, Hux, and a half dozen of his captains and colonels stuck around the command center. Lonely blips and transmission chatter replaced the presence of the technicians that had abandoned them. But still those six officers stood still and proud with their weapons locked on and ready to fire. Though the anguished expressions on their faces betrayed their true feelings.

The mass exodus of all of the First Order's top technicians didn't seem to phase the almighty general one bit. He plucked himself up from the floor, red and fuming.

"What in the hell are you waiting for? Take them out once and for all."

Were a couple hands trembling? Rey stole a glance at Ben and saw that her partner's lips were folded into a resolute crease. He knew that they knew there was no getting out of this alive if they chose to fight.

"Leave now if you don't want to get hurt," Rey said simply, her lightsaber humming along with her words as if to reinforce her point. Ben lowered his violet lightsaber a degree.

Three of the officers left as soon as Rey had finished speaking, ducking out as Hux looked on with his mouth gaping in enraged surprise. The other three cocked their blasters and took aim.

As if directed to by an unseen entity, Rey and Ben raised their hands towards their enemy and splayed their fingers. The green laser blasts stalled in front of them and hovered in the air. They traded a determined glance and thrust the lasers backwards.

The green bolts hit the targets that had expelled them in the first place. The officers sank down to the floor with grunts of pain and didn't get back up.

Now Hux was alone. He back up until his back hit the cold glass window behind him. Ben advanced before Rey, storming towards the general with a fire in his eyes and his all-too-familiar snarl lacing his lips. His saber burned dangerously in his grip.

"Do your worse!" he shouted. His usually immaculate hair now hung around his pale face in greasy streaks. "It may not have occurred to you freaks at all, but I hold more power right now than you two ever could."

"Shut up," Ben muttered darkly. He was now within three feet of Hux and still shortening that distance.

"You think you've changed, don't you? Now that you've saddled yourself up with her lot. Think you're going to fix this whole thing?" A crazed grin carved itself onto Hux's face. He wrung his hands together over his coat.

Ben said nothing but drew even closer while Rey watched from behind.

"I'm the only one who can fix all this!" He waved his gloved hand over the sight in the window. Stormtroopers ran from one parked shuttle to the next while TIE fighters were being deployed down to Raspitar at random. "We need order, and your pain-in-the-ass Resistance is an enemy of that order! You kill me, and the galaxy is killed along with me."

Ben towered over Hux and glared down at him. His face was like a stone mask, unmoving and unreadable. Rey held her breath, her grip on her staff tightening until it was almost painful. Victory lit up in Hux's pale blue eyes, and the man let out a small laugh.

"The galaxy doesn't need order like you think it does." Ben's words barely floated over the whirs of the supercomputers.

Ben peered over at Rey, a small smile alighting on his lips. "It needs hope. And love."

Rey's eyes filled with proud tears as Hux's expression fell. He gritted his teeth like a wild animal and glared up at his former Supreme Leader.

"But I have power."

And with that Hux dove under Ben's arm and slapped the underside of the table. Ben swept his lightsaber up in a deadly arc and caught Hux in the chest. He let out a choked scream and finally crumpled to the floor, his breathing ceasing.

As soon as he was down, Rey ran to Ben and turned her staff off.

He whipped around and wrapped her up in a rib-crushing hug. He switched his saber off and buried his nose in the crook of her neck.

"We did it," he breathed, his lips grazing her collarbone.

"We did it," she repeated as a blush burned her cheeks.

It was all over. No more First Order. No more battles, no more running away or losing lives. Her friends were safe and the galaxy was free. No more black and white. The future was gray, and Rey couldn't be more elated about that.

The control room's lights switched off and were replaced by a hellish red glow. Shrill alarms blared in their ears.

"What's happening?" Ben shouted over the sudden din.

The floor shifted under Rey's feet and she stumbled to stay upright. Was the floor… tilted?

Oh no. What had Hux said? That he had the power?

Outside the window, the surface of Raspitar drifted closer and closer.

 **Author's Note:** We're almost to the end, boys! I know this took a lot longer, but I made sure you got a little more bang for your buck. Hope you enjoy!


	20. An End and a Beginning

Chapter 20

An End and a Beginning

They were falling out of the sky.

Hux's final move was now fully apparent. He had hit some kind of switch under his table that would send his flagship careening towards the surface of Raspitar. Alarms blared and hot steam hissed out of the ventilation shafts around them. Any minute now they'd smash headfirst into the battle below before the troops would have time to get a safe distance away.

That bastard. Despite all of Ben's gifts, all of his training, that slimy cur had managed to seal their fate in a giant metal coffin right when they had almost claimed victory.

Ben looked towards Rey, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. He bolted to the end of the table where Hux had doomed them all, scrabbling under the wood with his gloved hand to find something, anything that could reverse this whole thing. Finding nothing, he swore loudly and leapt to another control panel, where he pushed every button in sequence.

A grinding noise and a desperate shout caught his attention. From the other side of the room Rey had stabbed one end of her lightsaber staff into a supercomputer and was running the plasma from side to side. Terrified whimpers escaped her mouth with each slash.

"Nothing's working!" She cried at him, her words cut off by a surprised shriek. A blast of steam had just erupted just inches from her arm.

"We have to warn them. Everyone down there. They have to have some comms system up here…" Ben muttered, dancing from monitor to monitor.

No matter how hard he pressed each command into the keypads or how hard he hoped to the Force above, the screens remained as deathly black as they had been since the shut-down.

"This is working!" Rey waved him over and slid her finger over a small holopad and yelled into the microphone. "It broadcasts to the main bay!"

She took the thin microphone in one hand and yelled, "Everyone, if you haven't already, leave this ship now! Get to your comrades below on the planet's surface and warn them before it's too late!"

"How do you know they won't just save their own skins?" Ben shouted to her over the din. His hair whipped across his eyes.

She remembered back to the group of stormtroopers they had captured down below. How they had cooperated with Rose and the others.

"They'll pass the message along if they want everyone to get to safety in time."

Ben couldn't see into the inky blackness past the window but nodded his head trustingly. The floor under their boots began to tilt obscenely under the entire ship was at a thirty-degree angle.

Out of a small window by the computer stations, Rey watched in silent horror as the stars outside slipped past them. The edge of the green jungle planet was now coming up, closer than ever.

"We should get down there! Take an escape pod and get who we can out!" She started to dash towards the doors they had entered in from.

Ben dashed from his spot and threw his arm out in front of her, nearly clotheslining her. His heart sank lower and lower into his diaphragm as he tumbled their situation over and over in his mind.

"We won't make it down there in time," he told her, barely managing to keep his voice steady. "We should leave now and guarantee ourselves an escape pod out of here."

"But my friends are down there!" Rey threw her arms about wildly, tears brimming in her eyes. She clamped down on his outstretched arm with enough force to clench his teeth.

"So are mine! But there's nothing we can do!" he retorted, emotion running his voice ragged.

They stared at each other desperately, as if one could simply find and pluck a solution out of the other. Ben's arm still remained in Rey's vice-like grip, his fingers trembling.

As they stood, various holopads and stylus containers scraped down their tables and slid off onto the tilting floor. A faint rumbling sounded around them over the shrieking of the alarms. They had just entered Raspitar's outer atmosphere.

Rey loosened her grip and let her arms fall to sides. The wrappings of her robes dangled at the angle of the falling star destroyer, and the loose pieces of her hair hung around her pale face. Even though Ben's heart couldn't take much more, it twinged painfully at her crumpled, defeated look.

"So, what can we do?" she muttered through choked-back tears.

Ben screwed up his face and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into a tight hug. She squeezed back with her palms flat against his shoulder blades and her head buried in the crook of his neck.

Around them, wires sprang out of their computers and sparks flew into the smoke-laden air. Distant shrieks of collapsing metal indicated that the structural integrity of the ship was now compromised.

"I don't want us to fight. If we can do something, I want us to decide together."

He felt Rey sigh into his tunic.

"I might have an idea."

Her voice barely carried over the noise, but Ben heard her as clear as day.

"What is it?" he asked, his embrace slipping.

Suddenly she rushed forward to the widow above the table, careful to jump over Hux's still form. She pressed a button on the sill of the window and the lush, tree-carpeted surface of Raspitar approached them at a frightening velocity. The planet almost took up the entire pane of glass.

She pointed a shaking finger at the view outside. "We don't want that coming any closer."

"Rey, what—" Ben stopped himself as she ran back to him and promptly sat down at his feet, her gaze locked onto the window. The Finalizer gave a bone-crackling lurch that almost topple them both to the ground, but they managed to stay upright.

"We can stop this thing." Her voice rang out hopefully. She was talking faster and faster. "Maybe not forever, but at least for enough time so that everyone down there can get away."

"Rey, this isn't a bunch of rocks! This is billions of tons of steel flying towards the ground!"

"I know!" She crossed her legs and reached up to him. Her fingers slipped around his. He could pick out the scars he loved so much on each of her digits. "But we need to try."

Her brown eyes gazed up at him. Hope, confidence, and determination radiated off of her like a heat, things he was not at all feeling in this moment.

But he swallowed his fear and doubt. Without letting go of her hand, he sank down to the floor and shook his hair out of his eyes.

"If we survive this, we're going back to Nov Sensum to take a vacation," he murmured, planting a quick kiss on her cheek.

"I'll hold you to that," she replied. A ghost of a smile rippled across her stern features, but she quickly got a hold of herself again. "Ready when you are."

"Ready."

The moment he closed his eyes against the flashing sirens, silence swarmed around him until he was swallowed whole. It was as if he had sealed himself in a padded, pitch-black room. No longer could he sense the floor underneath him, or the smoke filling his lungs, or Rey's presence beside him. He sat alone, only his deep breathes pushing back against the overwhelming lack of sound.

Then the pressure hit. A pressure so intense it threatened to crush his bones to dust inside his body. He clenched his teeth or at least tried to, but he couldn't feel any sensation in his mouth, or anywhere. Only that pain.

It was the Finalizer. It was doing this to them.

As the weight continued to push down, a picture flickered to life in front of his eyes like the sputtering of a match. On one side there was green. So much green. The other side was dominated by metal and smoke. The sinking form of the Finalizer moved steadily towards the planet. Its nose dipped down to the trees and trails of black smoke were lost to the vacuum of space behind it.

Raspitar. His guards were down there. Joran, Ames, Eloisa, Sestro, Edric, and Sal. Finn, Rose, and Poe were also fighting for their lives down there, the people Rey cared about most in the world. Both of them, right here and right now, could save them, could save everyone down there.

With a grunt of effort that vibrated in his throat but didn't reach his ears, Ben leaned forward into the darkness and focused with all of his might against the force pressing down upon him.

But with each passing second, the hulking gray starship sank lower and lower into the jungle planet's atmosphere. The edges of the hull were now painted with fire, screaming shrilly as it cut through the air like a massive knife. Ben could only imagine the panicked screams from down below, everyone sprinting towards the safety of their transports. But if they didn't Force this thing back, none of them, whether Resistance or First Order, stood a chance.

Again, he fought back against the pain, now so fierce that it took all of his willpower not to completely shut down. Don't come closer, he repeated over and over in his head like a religious chant. Don't come closer, don't come closer, don't come closer.

But it was all too much. The Finalizer still tumbled down and down. The pain, the inky blackness around him, the hopelessness seeping into his heart. All of this had been for nothing, after all. Bonding with Rey, killing Snoke, leaving the First Order, joining the Resistance, none of it was going to mean anything. The galaxy would lose so many more people, included himself and Rey, and the cycle of violence would continue somehow.

Through the mind-numbing heaviness of the star destroyer, Ben felt a light, gentle touch on his forearm.

Immediately the pain lessened a bit. Of course, she was here to help. This strong, talented, incredible force of nature he had fallen madly in love with. They were going to stop this ship, end this war, help the galaxy finally mend itself, and they were going to do it together.

And if they died here, how could he hold her again? Take her out in their freighter to see the stars? Spar with her in the chill of the crisp morning air? See her smile again, as bright as desert sands at noon? How would they begin to build something even better than what they had already?

Even though the force of the ship slowly increased, he held on within an inch of his life. Rey's touch was so hot it almost burned. He pulled back on the collapsing hull of the Finalizer.

As he watched through the Force, Raspitar's surface began to slow its path towards them. Even as chunks of burning shrapnel and glass rained down into the forests, the main body of the ship remained intact, slowing down just marginally.

The clearing. The battle. It was directly below them. The ship had now gotten close enough to the ground that Ben could pick out individual shuttles.

"Keep going!" he shouted to Rey, despite not being able to hear himself. Her hand on his arm gripped tighter, and a warmth filled his chest. A confidence like never before filled him up to the brim. They could do this. They had to.

The ships began to slow even more, the trees didn't blow up in size as quickly. Their speed was dropping, finally. But how slow was enough?

"We're almost there!" Ben yelled over to Rey, but it felt like the breath was sucked out of his lungs. The smoke filling the deck was stifling. If they didn't die in a crash, the fumes would.

The weight from before had almost doubled, but Ben gritted his teeth and fought through the pain. They finally had a handle on the falling Finalizer. Ben could see through his cloudy vision that the nose of the star destroyer now hovered above the clearing where the battle was taking place, as is the ship were dangled on a string.

"Now keep holding it!" Rey shouted through his haze. "Wait until they're cleared of the debris!"

Squinting through the pain, Ben could pick out soldiers sprinting towards their shuttles. Even the First Order ships had remained in the air away from the battle had dipped down to pull every last troop they could out of the warzone. One by one the shuttles loaded up their people and took off as fast as they could. From this height they looked like insects taking flight, leaving small contrails in their wake.

Just a little more, just a little more. This mantra cycled through Ben's desperate mind. Every nerve in his body was alight with fire and his chest felt fit to bursting. Never had he tried to Force back something so massive before, and he'd be glad just to escape with he and Rey's lives.

Each second a minute, each minute and hour. One by one the transports scurried through the air over the jungle, the Resistance forces retreating the east, the First Order to the west. Soon there was no sign of life left in the war-torn forest clearing.

As their concentration began to crack, the creaks and metallic groans of the collapsing deck reached Ben's ears. This bird wasn't going to hold for too much longer.

"We need to go!" he shouted to Rey. Leaping to his feet as best as he could, he brushed little chunks of debris out of his hair and lifted Rey up from her spot. With strict nods, they turned tail and bolted out of the deck area and into the control center outside. The long metal rods reaching out between data towers were breaking apart like toothpicks and falling into the abyss below.

Thoroughly worn out from holding the ship up, Ben could barely send out enough Force to bolt his feet to the floor, which had tilted to almost a forty-five-degree angle.

Alarms screamed, smoke billowed from the vents, and lights flashed on and of as the Finalizer began her final death throws. The walkways the sprinted across sagged under their weight and broke out behind them.

"Just a little more!" he yelled over his shoulder to Rey, who nodded while shielding her mouth from the noxious smoke.

They made their way out of the control room and turned down a long steep corridor. Sticking out of the walls were familiar, circular doors equipped with metal plating and control panels. They had made it.

There couldn't be more than a minute before impact. Slamming his fist on the largest red button in sight didn't seem to work, so he ignited his lightsaber and stabbed the panel in a fir of rage. Amazingly, the doors slid open and they both jumped inside the cool confines of the escape pod. Rey turned around to glance back at the hallway they had just ran down. A billow of flames erupted from behind them, sending a frightening wave of heat over their faces.

"Punch it!" Rey screeched, slamming the doors behind them and leaping towards the miniscule cockpit. Ben stumbled into the pilot's seat and flicked the controls on. The pod shuddered to life around them. Ben whipped his head around to take one last good at the inside of the Finalizer. It was the end of Hux, the end of the First Order, the end of an era.

Their escape pod shot forward with such a velocity that Rey was thrown backwards off of her feet. They soon emerged into a sea of blue, white whisps of clouds swirling all around as they somersaulted through the air. Ben bit his lip and took the joystick controls in hand and shuttled their ship in the perpendicular direction of the sinking ship's path.

"We did it," Rey breathed, her face smooshed against the thick glass of the escape pod window. The hilt of her lightsaber staff rattled against her belt. A surge of panic speared Ben in the heart and he reached impulsively to his own belt. To his relief, his new lightsaber was still secured there.

Once they had gotten a safe distance away, Ben adjusted the pod to face the crashing ship. He and Rey both watched in exhausted awe as the disintegrating star destroyer hurtled towards the clearing. When the tip of the hull touched down in the clearing, the whole body broke in half across the hull with a crack that Ben was sure the whole planet could hear. The two pieces crashed together and one of the biggest explosions Ben had ever seen in his life rocked the surface below; trees were blown from their roots, shrapnel ricocheted and shot into the clear blue sky. Plumes of fiery orange and a veil of acrid black smoke reached into the clouds like demonic hands grasping for the suns above.

"We did it," Rey sighed weakly. She stumbled onto a padded bench and rested her head in her hands.

Ben set the coordinates for due east and wandered over to Rey, a tired smile slowly weaving its way over his face. He dropped to his knees and front of her and gazed up into her beautiful brown eyes through his dirty tendrils of dark hair.

"We did it," he repeated hoarsely.

She let out a choked laugh and took his large, awkward hands into her smaller, daintier ones. With some difficulty, seeing as they were both wrecked from their biggest Force stunt yet, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead. Relishing the feeling, Ben snuggled closer until his head was on her lap and her fingers twirled gently through his hair, the scent of her easing him back down. The escape pod soared over the jungle, continuing its path towards the Resistance.

Sunlight crept through the windows of the pod and alighted on the pair of them. For what seemed like an eternity they sat there, holding one another. It was an eternity Ben would have liked to occupy forever.

…

Canaan's attendents had outdone themselves with the decorations. The jungle castle's great hall seemed to exude life from every corner and crevice. Vines woven from gold climbed the carved stone pillars holding up the vast ceiling, which was painted with eye-catching reds and greens and yellows. Exotic flowers of every color and petal orientation burst from the walls, drizzling scented pollen over everyone's heads and mixing delightfully with the aromas of the massive banquet the king had thrown for the entire Resistance fleet. Platters upon platters of roasted meats and vegetables graced every inch of the numerous stone tables lined up across the floor, and every seat at those tables were occupied with either Resistance soldiers or defected stormtroopers. On opposite sides just days ago, they now chatted amongst themselves and boisterously sang out war tunes while arm in arm.

Ben had his eyes on Finn and a pale stormtrooper Rey had identified as the one from their battle in the clearing. The pair were talking up a storm, gesticulating wildly and Rose watched eagerly next to her boyfriend and clutched at her hair.

Poe was at another table with his pilot friends, apparently telling a joke to the whole table, his tousled hair bobbing with each eager nod.

Another row down were his former personal guards, all huddled together as Ben fully expected them to be. To his surprise, though, Sestro looked up from his comrades to flashed him a devilish smile and a thumbs up in Rey's direction. Ben smirked ruefully and with a flick of his finger, Sestro's chair was yanked out from under him and he fell to the floor with a clatter. The laugher rising up from the rest of his friends almost drowned out his whining.

He and Rey ate their meal at a table closest to the main doors. With all of their travels to some of the seediest places in the galaxy, positioning themselves by an exit had become instinct. His mother Leia sat across from them, making amorous conversation with Rey.

Leia ran a hand through her graying hair, which she had worn down this evening, and gave Ben a good-natured wink. The two women had been discussing how things would fall into place after Leia and her generals would restore order among the galaxy, Sure, they would need soldiers to enforce the new peace, and many of the Resistance troops had decided to stay on permanently. But what lay in store for Finn and Poe and Rose?

"Finn and Rose are staying behind to stick with the stormtroopers. Help them find a place in this huge world. I asked Poe if he would still lead our aerial forces, and he agreed to take a higher command for me," the old general explained. She folded her hands together on the table, a content expression on her face. She looked once more toward her son, and then to Rey, and posed the questioned that had been on all of their minds: "What are you two going to do?"

He and Rey had talked things over on their new freighter for a few days now. The Resistance had practically begged them to stay, having recounted their heroic stabilization of the Finalizer many a time as a reminder of what they could do for them.

But there was always a time and a place for galactic peacekeeping. After hours of discussion while lounging in the pilot's seat in the cockpit, they had reached their verdict.

"We're going to go back to Nov Sensum," Ben told his mother, smiling briefly over at Rey. "Just for a time, not forever. We're going to practice with the village elder there and leave when we're ready. Then we'll be back."

Something like sadness seeped into Leia's usually warm gaze. She reached her hand across the table to Ben and he took it gingerly. There, pulsing through her fingertips, were her true feelings: relief for her soldiers and for her cause, elation at the festivities around her, a twinge of grief for her husband, and an overarching melancholy at seeing her son leave her again so soon.

"I will miss you two," she sighed, the rings on her fingers glinting under the light of the great hall. "But while you're away, you won't truly be gone. You're in all of our hearts, and we'll await your return."

After the feast had concluded and King Canaan made his final statements to Leia and her troops, Ben and Rey left the great hall and advanced through the massive wooden doors that lead to the landing platform. All around them Resistance troops and retired stormtroopers flowed down the wooden ramps like fish spawning upstream. Tall solar-powered torches lit a warm, orange path back to the sanctuary of their ships.

Ben felt Rey's small, deft hand grab him gently by the tunic and stop him in his tracks. At first he was confused, but as he took in the forest around them he understood why she had stopped them. One of the most glorious nights had taken over the jungle skies as they had celebrated inside. A full blue moon threatened to dim the already brilliant stars around it. Cool, fresh air swirled past his fingertips. The stark difference against the suffocating, humid heat of the day and the cool caress of the night was, well, night and day.

Ben hardly noticed the curious gazes the rest of their comrades gave them, or the knocking of their heavy boots on wood. It was just him, and her, and the night air.

"Hey, you two."

Joran, Ames, Edric, Sestro, Eloisa, and Sal had all strutted up behind them. Rey let out a small gasp of surprise as Finn, Rose, and Poe walked around the squad of guards. They had been following Ben's friends as one gigantic group.

"We're were looking for you guys. Any chance you'd be able to give us a little lightsaber demonstration?" Poe asked, eyeing the weapon hanging from Ben's belt.

"We heard about the new hardware, Solo," Finn told Ben, swinging an arm over Rose's shoulder playfully. "Any chance of a nighttime show for the lady?"

"Honestly, it's not that impressive," Eloisa laughed sarcastically. "What's new about it, that it's purple?"

Rey playfully nudged his ribs and Ben rolled his eyes with a slight smile.

"Sure, why not?" he asked them all, and they all responded with little cheers and whoops.

"Everyone, to the docks!" Poe announced, stomping off before the other could respond.

"But we were already going there, you nerfherder!" Rose called after him, but the entire group chuckled with her and they descended to the landing platform. Rey threw an arm around Ben's waist, he threw an arm over her shoulders and they set out through the cool Raspitar night, surrounded by friends.

After so much time, too much time, every missing piece had fallen perfectly back into place. He wouldn't trade any moment that brought him closer to this for any world in the galaxy, any second of their interplanetary journey.

Ben and Rey hung a little behind the others, listening to their friends chatter back and forth. He couldn't help but sneak glances at her as they walked. How her robes swirled about her ankles. How her fingers fidgeted with the belt encircling her hip. How her honey brown eyes reflected the torchlight oh so beautifully.

"What?" she asked him, finally catching him in the act.

"I love you," he answered simply.

She stumbled a bit as she reached up to tuck a spare lock of his dark hair behind his ear and run a finger down his healing scar. Her smile lit up this already bright night.

"I love you," she whispered back.

 **Author's Note:** Just an epilogue after this chapter. We're SO close to the end! Thank you all for your stunning patience and support. I appreciate every single one of you who stopped by and decided to check the story out. :)


	21. Missing Moon

Epilogue

Missing Moon

Rey was splayed on her back, her ash-grey robes fanned out around her. She gripped her lightsaber staff as best she could from her position, angling one end upwards to protect herself while the other hissed against the grassy ground below her. Teeth bared and chest heaving with tired breathes, it took all of her energy to keep her weapon out and ready.

"Had enough?" Ben snarled, his lightsaber inches away from her neck and a smug smile staining his face.

"Haven't you two been at this long enough?" a hoarse voice called to them from over their shoulders.

Exbi lounged under the shade of a stocky evergreen tree, the decorations lacing his horns glinting in the orange sunlight of the early Nov Sensum evening. His gnarled fingers paged through Rey's Jedi texts thoughtfully and he looked up at the couple with a weary yet knowing glint in his eye. "You've sparred for hours. I can't even imagine going for that long even in my prime."

Ben held out his large, calloused hand to Rey and she took it. He lifted her off the ground as if lifting a mere straw doll. She blushed at the feeling of it.

"I guess we've been fired up, is all," she said to Exbi.

"At this rate, you won't be able to join me tomorrow for breathing exercises, you'll be dead tired and fast asleep."

"We held a star destroyer in place," Ben recalled, swinging an arm around Rey's shoulders. She reached up to take his wrist. "I think we can handle some fighting."

"Then I won't doubt you. You did save my village, after all."

The Nove popped his current volume of text closed and stood up slowly, his red robes sweeping the pine needles under his feet. His horned head tilted towards the brightening lights of his village, Vaas Minas.

"I must return to town for our weekly feast. You two are welcome to join us anytime, we'd be happy to have you. I also must return these to my hut for safe keeping." He waved a scaly hand over to the Jedi texts.

He turned to hobble down the pine-strewn hill they had set up their sparring arena.

They watched their friend leave, arms thrown around each other. Then they turned around and faced the setting suns, eyes squinting in the light.

Without warning, Ben flopped to the ground like a tired child and crisscrossed his legs, Rey almost tumbled down along with him but managed to regain her footing and sink down beside him at her own accord. The grass below then was warm to the touch, basking in the afternoon heat.

The redder sun slipped below the soft curve of the mountain range, sending rays of orange all around the valley. The placid lake they had spent their first night on the run by shimmered quietly, sparks of yellow skidding across its surface. Despite the warmth of the evening, a shiver trickled down Rey's spine.

She sighed through her nose as she snuggled up to his shoulder, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

"It's good to be back," she whispered over to him.

She felt his deep chuckle vibrate throughout her body. "No one's tried to kill us in a while, I think that's a first."

"I guess so," she wondered, drinking in the heat radiating from his skin. She took the tunic of his deep gray tunic and rolled it between her thumb and forefinger.

Like before, the contemplated the lake and surrounding forest in delicious silence.

"I think Exbi's exercises have been working their magic, because I've never felt like this before," he murmured. His full lips caressed the freckles of Rey's forehead.

"Like what, Ben?" she asked him.

His gaze exuded a slight melancholy, but Rey could spot a touch of hope there, too.

"At peace."

Rey mulled over his words, then smiled so widely it lit up her entire soul. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

"What about you, Rey?" he asked her, returning her grin.

Her mind leapt back in time and retraced the steps they took on their journey. Crait, Raspitar, Nov Sensum, Urear, Jakku, Mer'in, Jemf, then back to Raspitar and then finally back here, in the forest where their love had begun to blossom.

"Like this is the only place I've been," she said.

"I suppose that's amazing?" he jested gently.

"It truly is, Ben." Her expression turned tender as she leaned in and kissed him sweetly, curling her hands around his jaw. "You're finally here with me and that's all I could ever ask for."

That old puzzle-piece feeling drifted back to her as they watched the soft white moon rise up shyly from the east.

 **Author's Note:** I'm always a sucker for cheesy, picturesque endings. Well, she's finally finished! My most humble thanks to every single one of you for taking the time to read my work! It's my first attempt and I've just been blown away by your support! I'm going to try and write more in the future, so I hope to see some of you then.


End file.
